Taking second chances
by Evapopefan56
Summary: Rachel has a very distant relationship with her daughter and rarely sees them, however when there boarding school closes suddenly, there's no other option for them but to move in with her. How will everyone cope?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

This story is different to anything I've done before (or the first few chapters will be) I'm a massive Rachel fan, as you'd have probably guessed if you've read any of the stories I've done over the past few years and I have always tried to show her in a positive light. However I thought if was time I tried something a bit different, as I feel I've been writing the same type of fics for ages now and Rachel's character in these first few chapters doesn't show her in a nice light at all, but it'll all become clear. Anyway hope you all enjoy please review and let me know what you think :)

It was early on a Saturday morning and both Rachel and her husband Thomas had a day off together. It was quite unusual for this to happen with her working as a head teacher and him being a doctor, they both had pretty hectic lives however they were planning on making the most of there time off together today.

As usual Rachel woke up first and jumped straight into her warm shower letting the water run over her body for a few minutes, she always did like having a long shower first thing on Saturdays and Sundays, as normally she's have to rush to get to work early through the week.

When she eventually came out she saw that Thomas was already up, which surprised her a bit as on his days off he normally loved having a lie in.

"What are you doing out of bed?" She asked smiling slightly

Thomas sighed and ran his hands through his dark brown hair "I'm sorry Rach there's an emergency at woke they need me down there"

Rachel sighed heavily, she might have known that a full day off together would be too much to ask.

"You're a doctor, there's always going to be an emergency at work, they still need to give you your days off" she said a little too sharply. She knew it wasn't exactly his fault but she couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed that there day had been ruined.

"I know, I know, but there 2 members of staff down as it is and they really need me in, I'm sorry honestly I am"

"It's fine, you go in" Rachel said forcing a smile

Thomas quickly got changed and headed towards the front door

"Erm don't I get a proper goodbye" Rachel said

Thomas turned his attention back to his wife and kissed her on the lips

"Go on then you, go and save some lives" she said smiling

"See you later, I'll try and get away as quickly as I can, make up for missing today with you"

"Well you better make sure you do" she said laughing

He gave Rachel a final kiss goodbye before heading for his car and driving off

Rachel sighed as she closed the door behind her, wondering what she was going to do with herself for the day now, she'd made sure she'd caught up on all her work last night as she'd really wanted just to have the weekend to relax with her husband.

In the end she decided to get caught up with all the housework on the morning and then she'd arranged to meet her friend Sammy for lunch and then do some shopping.

The morning seemed to pass quite quickly once she started the housework, at about 12 she started to get herself ready to go out to meet Sammy. Although it wasn't like she was going anywhere particularly fancy Rachel still tried to make an effort, especially when she was meeting Sammy who always looked so glamorous.

Rachel was just about to leave when the phone rang.

"Hello is this Rachel mason?"

Rachel didn't recognise the voice and wondered who it was

"It is yes, but I'm actually in a bit of a hurry" she said

"Well hopefully it won't take long, it's Jennifer Stone, the headmistress of your daughters school"

Rachel was shocked when she heard this and was wondering why on earth she'd be calling. Both of Rachel's daughters were at an all girls boarding school, they had a very distant relationship with their mum and always had, in fact when Rachel thought about it she couldn't quite remember the last time she'd seen them. They'd stay at the school for the holidays and she'd very occasionally come to visit them however other than that they would never see each other.

"Is there a problem?" Rachel asked

"Well yes I suppose there is" Jennifer said, it was unusual for her to be talking to Rachel, she'd only seen her nice and that was to enrol the girls however even then she seemed like a stranger to the girls and more like a distant aunt than a mother however she never really liked to pry into family relationships.

"You see the thing is miss mason, we're going to have to close the school, for at least a month, possibly longer depending on if we have any new cases"

"What are you talking about, why are you closing the school?' Rachel said instantly panicked

"There's been an outbreak of meningitis, there's already been 4 cases and we're worried they'll be more, most of the parents are coming down this afternoon to pick their girls up. Now we're doing our best to organise tutors for all the girls while school is closed, but it's proving challenging...look it's difficult to go over all this on the phone it'll be easier once you get to the school"

"What...I mean where are the girls going to go?" She said weakly

"Well since you're the only relative they have their going to have to stay with you miss mason" she said trying to hide the anger from her voice however she was sure it still came through

"No you don't understand they can't stay with me...it isn't appropriate"

Rachel was well aware of what she must sound like, however she couldn't help it. Ever since the girls had been born she'd never connected with them, both for different reasons. Her eldest daughter Holly was just a reminder of the life she used to lead and her youngest daughter Lexi reminded her all too much of the man she'd been trying to forget for so long now, the first 7 years of Holly's life had been spent mainly at her grandmas house with boarding school in between, even then she'd rarely see her mum and when Lexi was old enough Rachel sent them both off together.

Even though she tried not to Rachel would often think about her daughters and the life they could have lived if things had worked out differently. Thomas knew she had children however he knew the story too and although he disproved of the way things were between Rachel and her daughters he was aware there was little he could do to change things.

"It's the only option"

Rachel knew there was no getting out and in the end made arrangements to pick the girls up later this afternoon

Rachel felt sick when she got off the phone and found herself shaking slightly. She remembered the lunch she was meant to have with Sammy and quickly rang up to cancel before getting straight on the phone to Thomas and told him everything.

Luckily things had quietened down at work and Thomas was about to come away anyway so made his way back to the house to find his wife nearly in tears

"Rachel we'll make it work somehow" he said

"How are we going to do that, you don't get it do you?" She said "those girls mean nothing to me, there just a reminder of all the crap that I've worked bloody hard to put behind me, and if that makes me a terrible person then that's what I am but I can't help it"

Thomas had never seen his wife like this before And it was worrying him a lot

He embraced her in his big strong arms and let her cling to him for a few moments

"I'm sorry" Rachel mumbled "we'll work something out, it's only for a month anyway we'll get through it"

"Of course we will, do you want me there when you go to get them?" He asked

"Yes please, they hate my guts you know, so I could do with some protection" she said laughing weakly

"They won't hate you Rachel"

"Of course they do, I don't blame them one bit either, but there's nothing I can do to change it is there?"

Thomas was secretly looking forward to meeting Rachel's daughters and spending time with them, he had a feeling this month might change all there lives quite considerably, for better or worse though he wasn't quite sure yet.

At about 3 they both started driving down to the school, it was a good 2 hours away though so as they got closer both of them were ready to stretch their legs.

Rachel began to feel sick as they started walking up.

"How old are they now Rachel?" Thomas asked

"Oh erm holly is 15 and Lexi will be 5 now"

Thomas couldn't believe it when he heard how young Lexi was and began to wonder just how his wife could leave her at such a young age even after everything that had happened, but he knew it wasn't the right time to say any of that. Thomas had met Rachel 3 years ago and they'd very quickly fallen in love with each other and were married just a year later.

Together they walked up the drive of the, very posh looking, school"

Before long they were greeted by lexis house mistress

"Are you lexis mother?" She asked in a very posh sounding voice

"I am" Rachel said wondering how she knew as she'd never seen her before

"She's the only girl of mine left, all the other parents have been here as soon as they found out"

"Well me and my husband have had a lot on our plates this afternoon" she said however she could hear just how pathetic she must sound

"Haven't we all" the housemistress said haughtily

Rachel resisted the urge to make any sort of remark and followed her up to lexis dormitory

"I'll give you some time to help her pack, she's feeling rather nervous about seeing you"

Rachel sighed as she left and went into the small room

She saw Lexi sat on her bed looking all upset. It was strange seeing her again after all this time, Rachel thought, she couldn't help but also notice how much of her she could see in Lexi, she was very pretty even at a young age and had her mothers big brown eyes.

Lexi didn't say anything but just looked up at her mum, she looked different to how Lexi had imagined her in her head, she couldn't really remember what her mum had looked like so she'd made a picture. Lexi had always seen her mum as a scary cold figure and had imagined her to look accordingly however on the outside her gentle pretty face made her seem almost warm to Lexi. Rachel was struggling for something to say to start the conversation off.

"So erm you're going to be staying with me and Thomas for a while then huh?"

Rachel realised the first thing she'd said to her daughter hadn't exactly been filled with sentiment, like you may expect having not seen her in ages however she wasn't sure what else to say

Lexi guessed Thomas was the man stood next to Rachel though she didn't know who he was, he looked very kind and had warm, caring eyes so Lexi took a liking to hIm at once

"Yes" Lexi mumbled in response to her mums question

"Right well we'd better get going then hadn't we" Rachel said getting up and ready to leave to find Holly

"Wait Rachel aren't you going to introduce me" Thomas said

"Oh of course, Lexi this is Thomas my husband"

"Hi Lexi" Thomas said coming over to her "it's very nice to meet you, your mums told me loads about you"

This wasn't true at all, however Thomas wanted to make the girl at least a bit at ease after the less than warm welcome Rachel had given

"It'll be lovely having you come and stay with us, we'll have to do something special tonight since it's your first night, I'll tell you what I can make fantastic pizzas do you fancy that?"

Lexi began to feel more relaxed hearing Thomas speak so kindly to her and warmed to him instantly, she just hoped he'd be round a lot so she wouldn't be with her mum alone

"Yes please" Lexi said

"Okay that's what we'll do then"

Thomas took lexis small bag of stuff and carried it for her

"Where's all your other things Lexi?" Rachel asked "come on we need to get going of we're going to be very late back"

Lexi could tell her mum was irritated and it made her feel all shaky

"I d..d..don't h.. any other th..th..things" Lexi said sounding terrified

Thomas noticed she spoke with quite a bad stammer, he wondered if this was just because she was scared though however in actual fact Lexi had developed a stammer over the last year or so and got very set about it sometimes.

"Of course you do what about all your clothes and everything" Rachel said realising they only looked to be a couple of outfits in there

"I d..d..don't h..have many"

"Well what on earth do you wear then?" Rachel sighed

"Right I think a quick trip to the shops is due when we get back" Thomas said

"If there still open" Rachel added

After a brief discussion with lexis housemistress, which involved them exchanging contact details so they could sort out lexis tutor in a few day time they went off however Thomas stayed back

"Sorry I won't bother you for long, it's just I wanted to ask a few questions about Lexi, I don't know her at all you see"

"Oh yes I'm well aware miss masons visits to her 5 year old daughter are very few and far between, so I don't imagine you would"

"Yes well, she has her reasons but...I was just wondering if maybe you could tell me a bit about her"

"Well she's a lovely girl, very shy but she's starting to come out of her shell and she's got lots of friends, but she does lack confidence, but that's not unusual when the mother isn't present"

"And the stammer..."

"Oh yes...she's had that for a while now, it's not as noticeable when she feels relaxed but when she's a bit upset or unsettled then it's very noticeable"

Thomas chatted for a bit longer before running to catch them up

He could see even from a distance how frightened Lexi looked in just her mothers company

"Where have you been" Rachel asked

"Sorry I left something in lexis room I had to run back for it" he said casually "so how many are they in that room Lexi?"

"4" Lexi replied

"That sounds like fun, so what do you all get up to then, is it all staying up late and midnight feats?" He joked

"No" Lexi said giggling slightly, she decided she quite liked Thomas

Lexi and Thomas continued to talk as they walked a long and Thomas realised that the previously very prominent stammer had become considerably less noticeable as she continued chatting to him.

Thomas gave Rachel a strange look as they reached Holly's room, he'd never seen her act so coldly before and it was a side to her he didn't much like.

She quickly met up with Holly's housemistress, who seemed even more cold towards her than lexis did.

Eventually she was shown through and found Holly in a similar way to how she'd found Lexi, sat on her bed looking upset.

Rachel took a few moments to take in her daughters appearance, she really was very beautiful and had similar looks to her sister however her hair was a chestnut brown colour where as lexis was blonde. She'd grown up a lot since Rachel had last seen her.

"Hi mum" Holly said

"Hi holly are you all ready to get going?"

"Yep"

After briefly introducing Thomas they all set off towards the car.

Both girls could see it was a very nice looking car and figured that Thomas must have quite a lot of money.

They drove back in silence, with only Thomas attempting to make conversation with the girls.

About half an hour into the Journey Lexi suddenly felt really tired and fell asleep on her sisters lap.

She woke up about 40 minutes later and realised she badly needed the toilet however she didn't want to say anything. As she got more desperate though she began to fidget a lot and luckily Holly saw and knew her sister wouldn't be able to wait for much longer

"Lexi has to go to the toilet" Holly said causing lexis cheeks to flush

"Well she's going to have to hold on, especially if we are wanting to go to the shops before they shut, I told you it was a long journey Lexi why on earth didn't you go before we left?"

Hearing her mum speak harshly to her brought tears to Lexis eyes

"I..I'm s..s..sorry" Lexi stammered

"She's 5 years old, she can't wait and she was probably so nervous about everything before you came she forgot to go" Holly cut in sharply, she wasn't frightened of her mum like Lexi was, she just understandably felt a lot hatred towards her.

"I'll pull in at the next service station Lexi don't worry" Thomas said kindly

Luckily they saw a sign for a service stop just a few miles away and they got there quite quickly

Holly and Thomas both wanted to stop in the car so it was left up to Rachel to take her in

She took hold of lexis hand and firmly led her inside towards the toilets

When they were there they realised there was quite a big queue causing Lexi to panic and Rachel to sigh heavily

By the time they were near the front Lexi was fidgeting a lot

"Stop fidgeting and stand properly Lexi" Rachel said

"I..I r..r..really need t...to go" Lexi said nearly in tears

"Well you're old enough now to wait aren't you, you're a big girl now Lexi"

By the time they got to the front Lexi couldn't wait any longer and when it was finally her turn she bolted she managed to make it.

When she was sat down on the loo though Lexi suddenly began to cry because of everything that was happening. She knew she couldn't come out like that so tried to wipe her tears away however they didn't seem to stop.

After about 5 minutes Rachel began to get impatient as she really wanted to get back home

"Lexi what on earth are you doing in there, hurry up" she said

Hearing her mums voice just brought more tears to lexis eyes and she desperately tried to wipe them up

After another couple of minutes Rachel said "Lexi this is ridiculous if you're not out in the next ten seconds I'm going to walk back"

Lexi quickly came out and Rachel could tell instantly she'd been crying. If it were any other child Rachel would have been desperately trying to comfort them however she couldn't seem to do this with her own daughter. She made a promise to herself though not to speak too harshly to Lexi, as she knew none of this was her fault and she didn't deserve to be upset.

"Right let's get back to the car then shall we?"

Lexi gave a small nod of the head

She followed her mum back to the car and sat back down

"You were a while, is everything okay?" Thomas asked sounding a bit worried especially when he saw lexis tear stained face

"Yep everything's fine"

Lexi fell asleep again for the rest of the journey and only woke once they were at the shopping centre

"Right is it best if we split up, I'll take Lexi of you want and you can take Holly" Thomas offered

"Yeah fine" Rachel said although she wasn't particularly looking forward to being alone with her eldest daughter

Thomas and Lexi went off together and started chatting, again Thomas noticed how much better her stammer was when she was with him, anything she'd said with her mum there had been very difficult for her but now she was talking almost normally

"Thomas d...d..do you live w.. my all the t..time?" Lexi asked

"Yes I do, she's my wife, but I'll be away on a few night times though because if my job"

"W...w..what job do you h..have"

"I'm a doctor in a big hospital, so I try and make lots of people better"

"So d..do you h..have one of t..th..those funny th..th..things on your neck" Lexi asked curiously

Thomas smiled young children always were Interested in that

"Yes do you know what that thing is called?"

Lexi shook her head, though actually she did have an idea because they'd learnt about it at school when a doctor came to visit

"It's got quite a big name actually it's called a stethoscope, I'll show you one later if you like"

"Really" Lexi said excited

"Yeah sure"

Lexi smiled at him, it was the first time she'd looked genuinely happy since they'd seen her

Rachel and Holly were traipsing round the shops together however neither of them were saying much

"Look I need to go off and do a few things so how about I just give you the money and you can get whatever you fancy"

Holly knew fine well that Rachel didn't want to walk round with her and it was nothing to do with the fact she had things to do, but she didn't particularly fancy walking in silence with her mum for much longer either and she wasn't going to say no to money for new clothes so agreed to this

"How much do you need?" Rachel asked

Holly just shrugged her shoulders in response to this

"Will £80 be enough for now? I'll give you more some time later this week it's just I don't want to be here that long"

Holly couldn't believe her mum was going to give her £80 just to do what she wanted with, she'd never had so much money before just for her

"£80 will be fine" she said casually

"Well it won't get you that much but like I said I'll give you more later, meet me back here in an hour"

Holly went off and spent ages looking round all the shops and buying new things

She ended up being quite late back which Rachel wasn't happy about

"When I tell you to be somewhere at a certain time, the least you could do is make an effort to be there" she snapped

Holly just rolled her eyes at her

"Don't roll your eyes at me you cheeky..."

"Shut up, you don't have the right to tell me where I should be or what I should be doing, I'm only living with you because I absolutely have to, though if it was up to me I'd rather be living in an orphanage, but don't try and act like my mum"

Rachel was surprised by her daughters sudden outburst and didn't retaliate. Instead she did her best to just ignore it and went to meet up with Lexi and Thomas

When she saw them they both had big smiles in there faces and lots of bags in there hands

"T...t..Thomas b..b...bought me l..l..loads mum" Lexi said beaming

"Did he? Well that's good then isn't it, come on let's get going"

They all got in the car and drove back home.

The girls realised that Rachel must have moved since she last saw them, they both stared at her house it was absolutely huge, they couldn't believe they were actually going to live here for a bit. Although neither of them were looking forward to spending time with their mum they were excited about living here.

They walked up the large driveway and Rachel opened the door.

"Right here we are" she said her voice still sounding strained.

Lexi stared open mouthed at the big house, she'd never seen a house so big before.

"How about you two go and choose your rooms" Thomas said "there's four guest rooms so you can take your pick"

Lexi and holly immediately went upstairs and started searching round, they couldn't believe how many rooms they were to explore and Lexi saw that outside there was even a swimming pool in the garden, not that Thomas and Rachel got chance to use it much in England.

They realised that there was another floor once they'd been upstairs and went up. Holly immediately chose the room up there when she saw how big and pretty it was and it even had it's own en suite.

Lexi went back downstairs as the only other room up there was quite small and very plain, Rachel and Thomas very rarely used it.

She then opened a door just next to Rachel and Thomas's room and smiled when she looked inside. It was a very girly room and had lots of pretty pictures on the wall, with a big double bed and a huge dressing table, Lexi felt like a princess in there.

A few minutes later Rachel and Thomas came upstairs to check on the girls. They'd had a bit of an argument about the way Rachel was treating the girls and if had resulted in them both feeling pretty angry at one another.

Rachel sighed when she realised Lexi had chosen the room right next to hers and hoped she wouldn't keep them up at all during the night.

"Nice choice Lexi" Thomas said smiling

"Its r...r..really p..p..pretty" Lexi said sounding genuinely happy

"It is isn't it, not really my style though, your mum decorated this one didn't you Rach?"

"Yep" Rachel said

Thomas looked at her and frowned, he hated the way his wife was treating the girls but didn't what he could do to make her see sense, even after everything that had happened she could still try and make an effort he thought, surely she could see how harsh and almost cruel she was being

"Anyway should we get you unpacked Lexi?"

Lexi nodded her head and Thomas spent the next half hour with Lexi unpacking while Rachel very briefly checked in on holly before starting tea as after not having lunch today she was starving.

It was weird cooking for four people when she was used to just cooking for her and Thomas. She wasn't sure what to make as she didn't know what the girls liked and she needed them to eat something, in the end she decided on spaghetti Bolognese as she didn't think anyone would have much objection to that and she could make it quite quickly.

About half an hour later she called everyone down for tea and served it up.

Holly was ravenous as she hadn't eaten any of her lunch at school so ate her dinner really quickly before putting her plate in the dishwasher and getting away as quickly as possible

Lexi was trying to force it down herself however she really wasn't hungry and it was making her feel a bit sick.

"Lexi don't play with your food" Rachel scolded "if you don't want to eat any more then leave it"

Lexi jumped when she heard her mum talking to her.

She ate a bit more but then got down from the table and to put her plate away

"It's okay Lexi I'll do that" Thomas offered

Lexi was about to hand it to him when it suddenly dropped out of her hand and shattered over the floor

"Oh Lexi you could at least try and be careful" Rachel snapped

Tears immediately started to fill in lexis eyes

"I'm s..s..sorry I d..d..didn't m..mean to" Lexi said her stammer worse than ever

"Lexi can you try and talk clearly please"

Lexi looked extremely upset and burst into floods of tears before running upstairs

Thomas just looked at his wife in disgust "she's a five year old kid Rachel, how dare you speak to her like that"

Rachel was taken aback by his tone, Thomas was a very gentle man and Rachel rarely heard him shout at anyone

"Don't tell me how to speak to my daughter"

"How could you treat your daughters like this Rachel, how do you have the heart to reduce them to tears, fair enough you have your reasons for being detached from them, but if you ask me no reasons good enough to abandon your own kids"

Rachel knew there wasn't anything she could say to this so just turned away from her husband as tears filled in her own eyes.

She knew exactly how unfair she was being, particularly towards Lexi who was just a baby really but she couldn't seem to stop herself.

Thomas quickly went upstairs after Lexi and he felt awful when he heard gentle sobs coming from lexis room

He pushed open the door and found her crying into a pillow

Lexi say up when she saw someone come in and tried to brush her tears away

"I'm sorry about your mum shouting, she wasn't being very nice at all"

"I d..d...didn't m..mean to"

"I know you didn't, your mum knows that too, I think she's just a bit stressed today"

"I d..don't mean to n..not t..t..talk properly"

"We all know that Lexi, lots of people have a stammer, I know a few things we could try to help make it a bit better for you though, but it's not that bad anyway"

"Really" Lexi said smiling, she really would like to be able to talk clearly again as it caused her to feel quite stressed and upset when she couldn't say things

"Yeah we'll have to have a try at a few"

Lexi was about to reply when suddenly she began to feel really sick, she clutched her tummy and ran to the bathroom next door.

Thomas followed her concerned and saw her being sick so held her hair back for her.

"S..s..sorry" Lexi said once she'd finished

"That's okay, I'm a doctor I'm used to it Lexi, anyway you did it very neatly down the toilet, I'm used to my patients doing it over me"

"Really" Lexi said giggling

"Oh yeah, I'm actually a children's doctor you know, so I'm used to sick by now" he said "but I do think we should get you cleaned up a bit."

He started filling up the large jacuzzi bath ready for her, it occurred to him that it should really be Rachel doing all this as she was her mum after all but he wanted someone to be there for Lexi and for now it looked like it would be him, he'd always been brilliant with kids though and wanted some of his own very badly, this was one of the reasons he'd trained as a paediatrician.

"What time do you go to bed at school?" He asked

"7:15" Lexi answered

"Well it's 8 now so it's passed your bedtime"

Once Lexi had finished in the bath she got some pyjamas on and by now she was feeling very tired

"Are you going to nip down and say night to mum and Holly"

Lexi nodded and followed him down

She gave her sister a big kiss goodnight before going in to see her mum

When Rachel looked up she was surprised to see her in pyjamas and her her hair was still damp from her bath, she did look very young and cute and Rachel was feeling bad for upsetting her

"Are you off to bed now then?"

"Yes"

"Right well goodnight then, sleep well" she said

"Goodnight m..m..mummy" Lexi said

"Night Lexi" Thomas said

Lexi then made her way up to bed, it felt weird being on her own and she didn't like it very much, she felt all lonely and frightened. She began to cry properly and once she started she couldn't seem to stop, she couldn't understand why her mum hated her so much even though she was trying to be good.

Thomas sat down on the sofa beside Rachel, though after the way she'd been today he didn't fancy chatting to her for long.

"Thanks for sorting Lexi out"

"She was devastated about the way you'd been towards her, she ended up being sick"

"Well we all say things we don't mean" Rachel said sharply "I don't think you understand how hard it is for me to have the girls here, what it brings back"

"I understand it, but don't you think you're being just a little bit selfish"

"Yes you know what I am, but I can't help it"

"All Lexi wants is a mum that wants her, can't you at least pretend to"

With that Rachel walked off, not wanting to talk about it any more

A few hours later Thomas and Rachel were going up to bed when they heard sobs coming from lexis room

The two of them went in and found her sat up in bed crying her eyes out

Despite how things were between Rachel and both her daughters she knew knew it would be down right cruel to let a 5 year old sit there crying so she went over

"Lexi come on try and sleep" she said in a softer voice than she'd used earlier "I know you must be feeling unsettled here but you'll feel better after some rest"

It wasn't a lot but it was something, Thomas thought to himself, at least she hadn't shouted at her like she had done previously

He was glad to see Rachel did at least look a little worried about her and watched as she tucked her back in.

He could see how upset Lexi still was, so hung back as Rachel left.

"What's wrong Lexi?"

"I..I h..have a tummy ache" she lied

"Well there should be something I can do about that"

He pulled back the cover and started feeling her tummy

"Does it hurt here?" He asked

Lexi nodded

He felt all over and at every place Lexi told him it hurt.

"Well I've seen lots of little girls with poorly tummies Lexi and normally I know exactly how to make them better. Do you know what I think will make this one better?"

"W..what?"

"A really good nights sleep and a teddy to cuddle into. Do you have one?"

Lexi nodded her head

"I l..l..left her d..downstairs th..though"

Thomas quickly went down to find her and brought it back up and put it in the bed next to her

"There she's back where she belongs, now I think it's time for all of us to go to sleep isn't it?"

Lexi nodded her head, she was already feeling sleepy now

"T..Thomas, why d..does mummy h..hate me?" Lexi asked as Thomas was about to get up to go back to bed

Thomas stopped and turned back round not knowing what to say to this

"Your mummy doesn't hate you, she's just stressed at the moment, it's a big adjustment for everyone, just give it time Lexi"

"Okay" Lexi said

"Anything you need just give us a shout"

With that he flicked off the light and luckily Lexi feel asleep pretty quickly this time.

Please review x


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

thank you for the reviews really appreciate them all, going to try and update a chapter a day for a bit. I really agree with you, Rachel does remind me of Connie in these first few chapters, come to think of it the storyline is similar to the one between her and grace haha.

A week or so had passed since the girls moved in with Rachel and nothing much had changed between Rachel and the girls, they all kept there distance from each other as much as possible and although Rachel wasn't as cold and harsh towards them both as she had been when they first moved in, she was no where near forming any sort of mother-daughter type relationship with them. Although they were all living under the same roof they were far from being a family yet.

Things between Rachel and Thomas weren't particularly good either. Ever since they'd moved in Thomas had been around as much as possible, as he was finding that he was really enjoying getting to know both girls however all of this seemed to make Rachel annoyed, it was almost as though she was irritated by the girls taking up all of his attention and she didn't like the fact he kept snapping at her for the way she was being; she didn't think he had much right to an input on how she should behave around her own daughters.

It was a Friday afternoon and Rachel had just finished at work for the day, but Thomas was working later than she was and wouldn't be back till about 7 tonight. She collected her stuff from her office and walked towards her car, hers was the only one left in the car park by now as everyone else had gone home.

Both of the girls had a tutor sorted by now and although Thomas had said his parents would be more than happy to look after them on the few hours in the morning where they were home alone, Rachel had refused, the last thing she wanted was his parents to become involved in any of this, it would be different if it were just Lexi of course, but Holly was 15 now so she was more than capable of being home alone for a few hours Rachel thought.

She sighed as she pulled up on the drive and walked inside, she didn't like being home at the moment very much at all, particularly with all the tension there seemed to be.

When she opened the door she was greeted by Holly's tutor who was just on her way out.

"Oh Rachel I'm so glad I caught you, I was wondering if I could have a little chat about Holly"

"Yeah sure" Rachel said leading her through to the dining room where they could talk in peace.

She closed the door behind her and sat on the chair next to her.

"So what is it you wanted to chat about?" Rachel asked

"Well as I'm sure you're aware Holly is a very capable girl" she began, though actually she wasn't sure if Rachel was aware of this or not, from what it seemed like Rachel didn't seem to know very much about either of the girls. "I think it may be beneficial if we moved her back into a school environment in the time that school is closed, much as I love tutoring her I feel that she can get so much more being in a classroom environment, particularly at Holly's age it's important to mix in with other children, make a few friends while she's over here."

"Well if that's what you think is best, then that's what we'll do" Rachel said

"I think lexis tutor reckons it might be a good idea for her too, in fact she'll be just about done with Lexi now, I can bring her in for a chat too"

Rachel sighed when she went out, really just wanting to get on with her evening now, however she had to admit it would be nice if the girls could make a few friends as it might mean they would get out the house a bit and things wouldn't be so tense around the house.

When Ivy's tutor came in she sat down too

"Well as Joanna has explained we think schooling is the best option for both girls, Lexi seems to be struggling quite a bit at the moment and I think one thing we need to work on is her confidence, I think being around others her age will boost that though, however I do think that if it hasn't improved within a month or so we should look into some speech therapy for her, before it becomes a problem"

Rachel agreed to this quickly. After another 10 minutes or so of talking both women decided to show themselves out and get going.

Rachel wondered what she should do with herself now, but realised she'd have to talk to the girls about going back into school so went into the kitchen where they were both sat.

"H..hi mummy" Lexi said

"Hello Lexi, everything alright?" She asked, her voice sounding very forced

"Y..yes" Lexi said

"Good, now I wanted to speak to you both about something, your tutors both think it'd be a good idea for you to move back into a school for the time yours is closed"

"What if I don't want to" holly challenged

"Well If I think it's the best option then that's what we'll be doing I'm afraid"

"Why should you get a say in it? You haven't given a shit where we are or what were doing for any of,out lives so far so why should you start now?" Holly spat

"Holly go to your room" Rachel said

"Go to my room? That's all you ever do, send me away so you don't have to deal with me, so you don't have to face up to the fact you've been a shit mum all our lives. Oh and I'm not 5 years old either, but you know what I will go to my fucking room it's better than staying down here being anywhere near you"

"How dare you speak to me like that, show me some bloody respect" Rachel screamed however this didn't faze Holly at all, it just made her more angry

"Respect is something you earn, you stupid old cow" holly shouted, sounding hysterical now, tears forming in her eyes

Rachel couldn't stop herself reaching out and smacking her across the face hard. Rachel stood in shock as she watched her daughter stumble back, not being able to believe she'd actually hit a child, she'd just lost her temper completely and now she felt truly ashamed of herself.

However as soon as holly had regained herself she got up and slapped her mum right back, however twice as hard as she had and her watch caught on her mums cheek, immediately cutting it open causing Rachel to yelp out in pain.

Rachel had seen it coming and could have probably stopped her daughter before she actually smacked her but for some reason she didn't.

She stood shaking, the colour drained from her as blood ran freely down her cheek.

Holly was shocked when she realised what she'd done, however she didn't go over to try and help instead she just ran upstairs.

It was only then that Rachel remembered Lexi had been stood there the whole time and had seen everything, hence why she was now stood shaking in floods of tears

"Lexi are you alright" Rachel asked

Lexi just nodded her head, terrified Rachel would hit her too

"You shouldn't have had to see that I'm sorry" she said "go on, I think you should go up to your room too"

Lexi didn't need telling twice and immediately ran upstairs and collapsed into her bed in floods of tears, she hated it here and constantly felt scared particularly when Thomas wasn't around, she just wished she could be back at school with all her friends.

As soon as Lexi had gone Rachel immediately went to the downstairs bathroom to have a look at her face. Fortunately she could see that although the cut looked messy it wasn't actually that deep and was just a scratch really. She spent the next 15 minutes or so attempting to clean it up but it still looked really quite sore.

Rachel was just making tea when suddenly the front door opened and Thomas came in, she was shocked as she hadn't realised that it was already 6 o clock.

"Hi Rachel" he said cheerily as he came into the kitchen, unaware of the previous events

"Hi" Rachel said back

He came over to kiss her but stopped when he saw her face

"Rachel what the hell have you done to yourself?"

"It's nothing it's just a scratch" Rachel said however tears were already filling her eyes

"Here let me take a look" Thomas said

Reluctantly Rachel let him check her face out, though she flinched a bit when he pressed on it

"You're lucky it's just a surface wound, not that deep but keep applying the ice to it and the swelling should go down"

"Okay doctor" Rachel said with a weak smile

"You're lucky though, seems it could have been a lot worse"

"Well it's not that's the main thing" Rachel said

She turned around and attempted to get back on with tea

"Erm wait a minute, how did you do it?"

"Oh you know what I'm like, I walked into the edge of a cupboard while it was open"

Her voice sounded all shaky and her eyes still looked to be full of tears, so he could tell she was lying

"Rachel how did you do it?" He asked again

"It was my fault...me and Holly had a bit of an argument earlier and ...well this is how it ended up"

"What she did this to you?" Thomas said horrified

"Yes but it wasn't her fault..."

"Rachel you can't let a child go round hitting you, have you spoken to her?"

"We'll not since it happened no but I really don't think..."

"Well then maybe I should"

Thomas went to go upstairs and this panicked Rachel immediately knowing this would only make things a hell of a lot worse.

"Thomas stop..." Rachel begged "you don't get it"

"What don't I get?"

"I hit her first" Rachel admitted shamefully

This stopped Thomas in his tracks almost at once, he couldn't believe what he was hearing

"You hit her?"

"Yes but I just...I didn't mean to...we were fighting and she said a whole load of stuff...it just happened, I must have just...just lost my temper or something, everyone does it don't they"

"No most people don't go round hitting their kids" Thomas said "how badly did you hit her?"

"It was a light tap" Rachel said "honestly Thomas I never meant to hurt her"

"You've got to get a grip of yourself Rachel" Thomas sighed "can't you see what you're doing to those kids? Do you really think Lexi deserves to grow up without a mum, you've missed seeing one daughter grow up through to their teenage years, do you really want to miss out again?"

"You don't understand Thomas" Rachel sighed "you don't seem to get why it's impossible to be their mum"

"But can't you see how much you're punishing them, it's selfish to hurt them just so you can forget the past"

Rachel knew there wasn't much she could say to this she knew how unfair she was being but she couldn't stop herself, that's why the girls had always been sent off to boarding school, it would give her a chance to forget and them a chance to get some sense of belonging and security and she couldn't understand why Thomas just didn't get that.

They didn't say anything to each other for a while, Rachel got on with tea and Thomas went up to check on Lexi who was understandably very upset still.

When tea was ready Lexi and Thomas came straight down but Holly didn't so Rachel went up and knocked once before going in

Holly was shocked when she saw her mum and wondered what she was going to say to her

"Are you coming down for tea or not?" Rachel asked simply

"No"

"Do you want me to bring some up"

Holly shrugged though she was quite hungry by now and she knew Rachel had been making chicken tikka curry, which was one of her favourites

"Yeah" she said eventually

Rachel just nodded her head before going back down and bringing Holly some tea up

"M..mummy where " Lexi asked

"She's eating her tea upstairs today" Rachel said

Thomas and Rachel both noticed that Lexi didn't eat much at all for tea, they were getting a bit worried as she hadn't seemed to eat much at all since she got here.

"Lexi do you want me to make something else for you?" Thomas asked

"N..no thankyou"

"Lexi you need to eat something" Rachel said

"How about a mini pizza and spaghetti hoops" Thomas offered

"I'm not th..th..that hungry"

"Okay but tomorrow just have a try at eating all your meals okay"Rachel said

"Okay" Lexi said

They finished the rest of their meal and then Lexi went off and Rachel and Thomas tidied up

"How did they get on with their tutor today?' Thomas asked

"They both think it'd be good for the girls to get back into school, just as a temporary measure till theirs opens again"

"Might be a good idea, it'll be difficult though with such short notice"

"I know, I might have to take a day off on Monday to get somewhere sorted for them"

The weekend seemed to pass without any more major dramas, however things between Holly and Rachel weren't good at all.

On Monday morning Rachel woke early and got the girls up too, quickly sorted breakfast before getting them in the car.

She had an appointment first thing for one of the local primary schools for Lexi, however it seemed much more difficult trying to get Holly sorted at such short notice.

"Holly wait in the car while I get Lexi sorted. I'll be about half an hour and you've got your phone to play on, or you can go for a walk if you'd rather"

"I'll go for a walk"

Rachel led Lexi inside and they went to see the head teacher

Luckily there was a place available in reception and Lexi could start today if she wanted.

Lexi felt very scared when she was walking down however the headteacher seemed nice and been Rachel was being quite gentle with her, as she didn't really have the heart not to be when she was so afraid.

As soon as Lexi was inside she went back out, however Holly wasn't at the car.

She walked round a bit hoping to see her and eventually did, however she was shocked to see she had a cigarette in her mouth.

"Oi holly get that thing out your mouth right now" Rachel shouted as she walked over

Holly sighed but did stamp it out

"What's that all about, you don't smoke do you?"

"Sometimes" holly shrugged "anyway what's it to you, you don't get to tell me what to do remember"

"You know what fine it's your life, get back in the car"

In some ways Holly had wished Rachel had got mad about her smoking, at least it would have shown she cared even if it was just a tiny bit, but she clearly didn't care at all and Holly was wasting her time trying to convince herself otherwise.

"Right I've tried all the schools in the area and no ones taking anyone"

"How about yours?" Holly asked

"What?" Rachel said confused "no I don't think that's a good idea"

"Why not?" Holly asked, getting the chance to make her mums life hell seemed like the perfect idea to her

"Well would you want to?"

"Yep"

"Well I guess there is places" she sighed, this really wasn't what she wanted but it didn't seem like there were very many options other than this

In the end they finished up in Rachel's office

"Read this and Sign here" Rachel instructed

Holly didn't even glance at it and signed

"Did you read it?"

"Nope"

"Well maybe you should, it's a list of school rules and regulations"

"Sounds like I've missed out on a treat not reading it then"

"And loose that lip" Rachel said "rule number 3, there will be zero tolerance of disrespectful behaviour towards a member of staff, and that includes me"

"Is there any rule on there about not abandoning your children at age 3"

"Nope it isn't listed" Rachel said trying to keep her cool

"Well maybe it should be"

"Right I'm going to make this clear, neither of us are happy about this, but we're going to have to live with it and in the process you can show basic levels of respect, from now on I'm your headmistress and your my pupil, like it or not that's how things are"

"Fantastic can't wait"

"Stick to these rules, keep your head down,three strikes and you're out"

"Does that apply to everyone or just me?"

"To everyone" Rachel answered although this wasn't strictly true, normally expulsion would only be a very last resort

Rachel quickly went to print off a timetable for her

"Have you got a copy of the rules"

"Yep"

"Well see to it you stick to them" Rachel said

With that holly sauntered off to find her next class.

She found out she had english with mr budgen and it didn't take her long to get chatting to some of the girls and settle in

The problem was once holly started chatting she didn't want to stop

"And let's see what work you've completed this lesson miss mason"

Holly tossed a blank sheet of paper in front of him

"And what do you call this?"

"I don't know sir, to me it looks like paper but maybe I need my eyes testing"

This resulted in the rest of the class bursting into laughter

"Get out, I don't care whose daughter you are you will follow the same rules as everyone else"

"Nah I'm okay here thanks"

"You will follow orders from teachers"

"No I won't"'holly said casually

"Carla go and get mrs mason" Grantly ordered, having had just about enough of Holly's cheek.

"Who is she like the bloody queen round here, she's not all that perfect you know, I could tell you a shit load of things she's done that'd soon be enough to change your minds about her" holly shouted tears filling her eyes

As soon as Carla stood up holly began to get a bit worried

A few minutes later, having been filled in on what had happened Rachel came straight down

"Holly get out" she said trying to keep calm

"What you going to force me?"

"No but I'll expel you if you don't"

"What like you have power over me or something? Now you're trying to take charge of me, after abandoning me when I was 4 years old"

This was causing a lot of amusement to the rest of the class and a lot of embarrassment to Rachel, why know it'd be all round the staff room by break time.

She firmly grabbed hold of Holly's wrist and practically dragged her outside.

"Never do that again you got that"

"Why am I embarrassing you?"

"Once more and you're out Holly"

"Fuck off" Holly said unfazed by her mums harsh tone

"And don't you ever use words like that in front of me or any other member of staff"

"I'm going for a fag"

"Oh no you're not it's strictly against school rules"

"Oh yeah, well you know what you can shove your school rules up your arse" holly said before running off

Once she'd had time to calm down though Holly began to realise if she walked off now then her mum would have won and she wouldn't get any more opportunities to get her own back.

By third lesson Holly was back in school and went to her maths lesson and was practically perfect all lesson.

When Rachel went to find Eddie to check if her daughter had behaved herself in his lesson she was fully expecting to hear only negative reviews.

"She's been fantastic Rachel, she even managed to do the A* level quadratics, none of the others could do them and she's only in year 10, she's a very bright girl"

"Well I don't know what a quadratic is, but that's good to hear" Rachel said

She was about to leave when Eddie stopped her

"I never knew you had a daughter Rachel"

"I've,got two actually, my other daughter Lexi is 5"

"It's just you've never talked about them"

"They're at boarding school" Rachel said in a tone that told him that she didn't want to talk about it so Eddie left it

By the end of the day Holly seemed to have made loads of friends and had even been invited to one of the sixth formers parties later that night.

She ran up to her mums office figuring she should at least tell her she wasn't going to be in tonight

"Mum I'm out tonight"

"Fine, don't be late" Rachel Said

Holly knew perfectly well she would be late

"And holly it's mrs mason or miss at school"

"Alright miss" she said emphasising the last bit

Rachel rolled her eyes as she left but didn't say anything, she was just glad that she hadn't had to deal with anymore disruption from her today

She then drove to the primary to pick Lexi up from school.

By the time she got there Lexi was the only one In the playground and was sat at the bench all alone because all the other kids had been picked up

"Sorry I'm late" Rachel said

"How was school" she asked half heartily, however when she saw lexis face she realised she must have been crying

"Okay" Lexi said sounding tearful

"Good" Rachel said she knew she was being awful not asking what was wrong, but thought Thomas could have a word later

"I've got to nip and do a bit more work at my school is that okay?"

Lexi nodded her head in response

Rachel drove back to waterloo road and the two of them went up to her office. Rachel did feel a bit mean taking her up there though without anything to do

"Do you want to play on my iPhone, I've got games"

Lexi liked the sound of this so nodded her head and smiled so Rachel gave It to her to play on

This occupied Lexi for quite a while and took her mind off school today however soon she went all quiet and Rachel realised she as getting all tearful.

She finished off the work she had to do as quickly as she could as she didn't want Lexi there while she was all upset, as she didn't think it was fair on her.

Once she'd shut down her computed she and Lexi went home and to her surprise Thomas was already back

"Lexi nip up to your room to get changed out of your uniform" Rachel said and Lexi did as she was told

"Hiya love" she said before coming over and kissing her husband "you're back early"

"It's unusual isn't it" Thomas said smiling "how's your day been?"

"You know what don't ask" Rachel sighed she's rang him earlier after the incident with Holly and he could tell how stressed she was then

"Holly's gone out"

"Where to?"

"I don't know"

"Well did you not ask where she was going?"

"Thomas just for tonight, please don't lecture me about the girls I'm just really not in the mood"

Thomas didn't approve of Rachel just letting Holly out like that however he knew when not to push it

Once they'd had a coffee and a chat Rachel said "Thomas I think Lexi is upset, would you be able to have a word"

"Why don't we both go up" Thomas said

Reluctantly Rachel agreed and the two of them went through to lexis room and found her crying on her bed

Thomas immediately went over and scooped her up to out on his knee.

Lexi was quite hysterical though and couldn't seem to stop crying

"Lexi what's happened" Thomas asked

When Rachel saw Thomas with her daughter it made her realise just what a good father he would make, he'd always been a very gentle man and would never harm anyone.

Lexi tried to speak however she couldn't seem to be able to get any words out

"Lexi take your time" he said "it's just me and your mum here now and we're just here to listen"

Rachel could tell that her daughter felt uncomfortable around her though and would probably rather she wasn't there.

"Lexi, would you rather me go out so you can just talk to Thomas?" Rachel asked

When Lexi nodded her head to this, Rachel felt a pang of guilt for the first time since the girls had been there.

Rachel left quietly leaving Thomas and Lexi alone

"You can tell me what's happened Lexi, it's okay?"

"A...a..at sc..sc..school everyone was l..l..laughing at me b..b..because of my st..stammer" Lexi said through tears "and I c...couldn't do any of the work"

Thomas held her while she cried onto him and tried to comfort her a bit, but it was hard when she was so upset

Although Thomas did manage to comfort her a bit, Lexi stayed upset for the rest of the night and didn't eat much at tea again.

When they put her to bed that night, Thomas had to stay with her for ages until she eventually dropped off.

By this time Rachel was beginning to wonder where Holly had got to and was getting quite annoyed.

Thomas tried staying up to wait for Holly to get in however in the end he got so tired he went to bed.

Eventually at about midnight Holly came back in and it soon became obvious to Rachel that she was very drunk

"Holly what the hell are you doing, it's a school night"

"Oh piss off, I hate you, you left me" holly slurred

"Bed now" Rachel ordered

"You're a real bitch you know mum, you've been very very very nasty to me and I don't like you" holly said in her confused and drunken state "why don't we never talk again, that'll make me a really really happy person"

"Holly bed"

"I don't want to go to bed, I want to go back to the party, let me go now"

"How the hell did you get home?"

"People ordered me a taxi, because they said I was too drunk but they're lying and their bitches because I'm not drunk at all"

Suddenly Holly grabbed her stomach but didn't make it to the bathroom and was sick all over the white carpet and her mum

"Oh just get out of my sight and up to bed you stupid girl" Rachel screamed

It took her ages to clean both herself and the carpet up but eventually she managed to get some sleep herself.

Please review, next chapter Rachel will start to be more like Rachel again I promise x


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A few days had passed and Rachel and Thomas were both getting increasingly concerned about Lexi. She didn't seem to be able to talk to either of them, not even Thomas and the whole no eating thing was getting even worse.

It was a Friday and Thomas had left early for work as he would always finish around 3 today which was a lot earlier than usual, so it was just Rachel and the girls at home, which was the way everyone liked it least, when Thomas was there, it allowed for Rachel to take a backseat and let Thomas care for the girls, he was brilliant with them both, but particularly Lexi.

Rachel was on a course today, so was up early trying to get everything sorted. Holly was going to walk down with friends later as it wasn't too far and she didn't fancy being woken up by Rachel even earlier than usual.

Holly was going to drop Lexi off on the way, however Rachel wanted to make sure she'd got her up and dressed before she went as she didn't trust Holly to remember to.

"Lexi it's time to wake up" Rachel said shaking her awake.

Eventually Lexi stirred and sat up

"m..mummy I'm t..tired"

"I know it's a bit earlier that usual, I'm on a course today that's why"

"My t..tummy hurts" Lexi said, it was true she had woken up a couple of times in the night because her stomach was hurting her however it was also because she really didn't want to go to school today.

Rachel didn't believe her for one second though and presumed she was just trying to get a day off, she'd tried the same thing with Thomas the to her day however as a children's doctor, he wasn't very easily fooled.

"Lexi, you can't just do this everyday, pretending to be sick isn't going to get you anywhere, I know you're not enjoying school but it's only for a month or so okay"

"B..but it d..does hurt"

"Lexi I'm not interested in having this conversation, you need to go to school and I need to go to work and that's just how it works I'm afraid" Rachel said, her voice sterner than she'd intended

Lexi didn't dare argue with her mum anymore and started getting ready for school

"Good girl, now meet me downstairs for breakfast when you're dressed okay"

Lexi nodded her head, though she wasn't hungry at all.

She slowly got herself ready before going downstairs like Rachel had asked.

"Right what do you want for breakfast?"

"I'm n..not hungry"

"Well unfortunately you've got to eat something, so what's it going to be hmm?"

"Toast" Lexi said

Rachel quickly made put some toast in for Lexi and got some fruit and a yoghurt out for herself.

Once it was ready they sat down at the table together.

"Now I want to see all that eaten up okay, you can't go for days without eating anything, it's bad for you"

Lexi tried to eat it but she felt really sick and could only manage a bit, before she started playing with her food

"Lexi stop that and eat it" Rachel said sharply

Lexi jumped at her mum speaking harshly to her and tried to eat as much as she could, but this was making her stomach feel a lot worse.

Rachel gave up trying to push her to eat more and just took her plate away.

She realised it was about time she was heading on her way but didn't want to leave Lexi while holly was still asleep.

In the end she decided to put Lexi in bed next to Holly, as she knew Holly's alarm would be going off soon

"I'll see you later Lexi" Rachel said "go back to sleep for 10 minutes if you like, just stay in there until Holly wakes up okay"

Lexi nodded and Rachel quickly rushed downstairs before grabbing her jacket and leaving.

When Rachel was driving, to her surprise she found herself thinking about the girls, she was getting worried about Lexi and although at first she'd convinced herself it wasn't her maternal instincts finally kicking in, now she wasn't so sure, she wondered whether she was finally starting to become a mother and the thought of this frightened her.

About half way through the day Rachel got a call from the school saying Holly hadn't turned up for school today and neither had some of the girls she was meant to be walking to school with. Anger flooded through Rachel,however again this surprised her as a week or so ago she wouldn't have cared what her daughter was doing providing it didn't effect her.

However she didn't have time to dwell on it too long, because just a minute or so later she got a call from lexis school saying she was unwell and needed picking up. Rachel sighed heavily knowing that Lexi would just be doing this to get out of school, however her course only had one more half hour session to it, so she politely thanked the leader and explained why she had to leave early, before getting in her car and driving to the school.

When she got there she saw Lexi and it was obvious she'd been crying from the read rings around her eyes.

She quickly took hold of her hand firmly and signed her out

The two of them were walking back and Lexi could tell her mum wasn't very happy with her, but this didn't really make much of a change.

"Lexi you can't just say your poorly to get out of school" Rachel said

"I really am poorly th..though" Lexi said getting upset

"And lying isn't going to do you any favours either"

Lexi knew there was no point trying to defend herself and just went silent

When she got in the car she quickly fell fast asleep even though it was less than a five minute car journey home.

Rachel looked in her mirror when they were back and realised she was still fast asleep.

She opened the back door and looked at her daughter, she did look really cute Rachel thought to herself, she had obviously been very upset though as her eyelashes were all wet from her tears still.

Rachel unfastened her seatbelt for her and lifted her inside and up to her room, where she gently eased her out of her school uniform.

It was only then that Rachel realised that her head did feel very hot and she was quite sweaty too, so she began to wonder. If she was lying about being poorly after all. She left her in just her knickers hoping this would cool her down a bit and she didn't put the quilt over her.

She stayed with her for a couple of minutes before going downstairs to get on with the ironing.

Lexi woke up a bit later and was startled when she saw she was in her bed, without any clothes on.

She felt really shivery and she ached all over. All of a sudden she began to realise how much she missed it at the school, she would always get looked after there when she was poorly by one of the house mistresses and she would never really get shouted at, here however no one was ever kind to her except Thomas and she knew her mum must hate her.

Lexi thought about it for ages and in the end she decided she'd try and walk back to school, even though it was raining outside and she had never felt so ill in her life, she didn't think she could take much more of it here and felt very frightened all the time.

Although she was shaking and her head was spinning she managed to get herself dressed and out of the house without Rachel realising.

Now she was outside she had no idea where to go, but she started walking and hoped somehow she'd find a way to get there. In her 5 year old mind, Lexi thought that if she walked for a while and looked hard enough she'd be able to see it somewhere.

Tears were running freely down her face now, partly because she was so scared and confused but also because of all the pain she was in.

Lexi had been gone for about an hour before Rachel noticed anything.

Rachel had began to wonder where Lexi had got to, as she expected her to have woken up by now. She wanted to show her at least some warmth and compassion, as that afternoon it began to dawn upon her just how horrid and selfish she really had been towards both girls. It seemed to Rachel that despite the fact she was working hard to fight against them, finally her maternal instincts were kicking in.

She made Lexi some chicken soup and bread and put it on a tray so Lexi could eat it in bed if she wasn't feeling up to coming downstairs.

Carefully she carried it upstairs and into lexis bedroom and got a shock when she wasn't in there.

At first Rachel wasn't that panicked thinking her daughter had probably just nipped to the bathroom.

She waited in her room for a couple of minutes however when she still hadn't come back, Rachel put the tray down and walked over to the bathroom.

The door was closed so she knocked on it.

"Lexi are you in there? Are you okay?" Rachel asked sounding a big worried now.

She noticed that the door was unlocked, but then again Lexi would never lock the door when she went to the loo.

"Lexi I'm going to come in" Rachel said

When she opened the door and Lexi wasn't in there, panic started to flood through Rachel.

She immediately began to search round the house calling her name and it soon became obvious Lexi wasn't in there.

By the time she'd checked every room in the house and the back garden, Rachel was nearly in tears with worry for her daughter.

She realised she must have ran away, but she was only 5 years old and didn't have anywhere to go, it was dangerous for her to be out there alone in the rain anything could happen to her Rachel thought.

Rachel was in such a state of worry she couldn't seem to think clearly anymore and in the end rang Thomas thinking he would know what to do, luckily he was on his break so picked up straight away and Rachel explained everything.

"Rachel you've got to calm down, take your car and look round everywhere you can think of, if you don't find her in half an hour or so call the police. I'll try and get away as soon as I can okay but we're all rushed off our feat today" Thomas said praying he'd be able to get away on time to help out, as when Rachel had told him, he too had been very worried about Lexi.

Rachel quickly ended the call and started to look for Lexi in the car, it was only then, when Rachel was frantically rushing round looking everywhere she could for Lexi, that Rachel realised that despite the fact she'd convinced herself otherwise for all these years she did love her daughters very much and wanted to become a mother to them.

Lexi was feeling even worse now than before, every part of her body seemed to ache and she was shivering all over, her head was hurting so much it was making her really dizzy.

Rachel had almost given up hope of trying to find Lexi herself and was about to call the police when she spotted a figure in the distance, it was very small with long blonde hair and looked like her daughter.

It was raining heavily now and Lexi was soaked through.

Rachel quickly pulled up and jumped out before running towards her

"Lexi" Rachel screamed

This caused Lexi to turn round and realise her mum had found her, although she was scared of going back she was glad she'd been found as she was in so much pain now and it was scaring her.

When she realised it was her daughter Rachel ran towards her and much to lexis surprise wrapped her arms round her

"Lexi what were you thinking? Where were you going?" Rachel asked, however there wasn't a hint of anger in her voice, it was just full of concern

"B..back to school" Lexi said causing Rachel's heart to ache for her

"What?" Rachel said in disbelief "oh love, let's get you home"

Lexi didn't understand why her mum was being so warm towards her all of a sudden, but at this moment in time if was exactly what she needed.

When Rachel first saw how shaky Lexi was she thought it was just from the rain and didn't realise how poorly she was.

She led her back to the car and got her in and Lexi fell asleep instantly, exhausted from the walking and how Ill she felt.

As soon as they got home, Rachel carried her inside and started running a warm bath.

Lexi had woken up by this point but was too teary and exhausted to tell Rachel how poorly she was feeling.

Instead she just let her mum get her out of her sodden clothing and put her on her knee, while the bath was running. For the first time in her life Lexi was being mothered by Rachel and despite how horrible she felt, she was enjoying it.

Rachel let her cry into her and tried to soothe her.

"Oh Lexi I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry" Rachel said nearly in tears herself "I'm sorry for being such a bad mum, but I'll make up for it I promise"

Lexis mind had gone so foggy she wasn't sure if her mum was actually saying this or she was just confused and dreaming it, but she really hoped she wasn't.

As soon as the bath was done Rachel got Lexi to stand back up, but as soon as she did her stomach went all funny and she was sick

"Oh Lexi, are you feeling poorly still?" Rachel asked

Lexi just nodded her head

At this point Rachel had no idea how serious it was and thought a bit of tlc and some medicine would be enough.

"Come on then, let's get you in the bath and into bed"

Rachel helped her into the bath and cleaned up the bathroom floor.

She gave her a while in the bath but she noticed she was still shaking considerably even after the hot bath.

Once she'd got her out she got her into some pyjamas, however it was only then Rachel realised how flushed she was looking and how shaky she was

"Lexi what hurts?"

"Everywhere" Lexi sobbed

Rachel tried to get her back to her bed so she could have a proper look at her however suddenly Lexi collapsed, however Rachel was there to catch her

"Oh my god Lexi, can you hear me?"

"Y..y..yes" Lexi said shivering

"It's okay I've got you"

"D..don't leave m...me"

"No love, I'm not going to leave you, when did you start feeling poorly Lexi, was it last night or this morning"

"L..last night"

Rachel scooped the little girl up in her arms and carried her into hers and Thomas's room and put her on the bed

"I'm just going to get a thermometer, I'll be 1 minute then I'll be back"

"N...no d..don't go again" Lexi sobbed "I d..didn't m..mean to be b..bad when I w..was a baby"

It broke Rachel's heart hearing Lexi say this, really bringing home to her how unfair she'd been, she'd convinced herself the girls would be better looked after else where but she was beginning to realise what they really needed was a mum and how much missing out on this had effected them.

Whatever becoming a mother to the girls would being back to her and how much it'd hurt at times, Rachel knew she needed to put this behind her.

"Oh Lexi, it wasn't you, it was all me I promise it wasn't you, there was a lot of stuff going on and at some point we'll sit down all,of us and have a proper chat about it, but let's concentrate on you for now"

Lexi didn't have the energy to try and talk so just nodded her head to show she'd heard

Rachel then went downstairs and got the thermometer alongside a sick bowl, an ice cold glass of water and a cold flannel before going back up to see Lexi.

Rachel quickly took her temperature and realised it was a lot higher than what it should be.

"M..mummy p..please will you turn the light off" Lexi muttered, half asleep now

"Yes of course, why is it hurting when it's on"

Lexi nodded her head, Rachel went and turned it off and closed the curtains so it was quite dark in the room

Rachel was getting really worried about Lexi now and wondered if she should take her down to the hospital.

She held the flannel to her forehead and Lexi tried to push her away

"I'm cold"

"I know you feel cold Lexi, but you're burning up" Rachel said "I think we should get those pyjamas off too my love"

"No mummy I'm cold" Lexi cried as Rachel gently eased her pyjamas off her

"Sweetheart we've got to bring your temperature down" Rachel said

A moment or so later Lexi sat up, Rachel was quick to get the bowl under her and before long Lexi was being badly sick again as tears streamed down her flushed face

"That's it, you're better getting it all out your system"

When she'd finished, Rachel quickly cleaned up again before going and getting into the bed beside Lexi

"Lexi, I think it might be a good idea to get you checked out down at the hospital love, gosh where's Thomas when you need him" Rachel sighed

Lexi was very reluctant to move and Rachel had to carry her out to the car again.

While they were going down Rachel kept trying to get hold of Thomas on her hands free and eventually did

"Rachel have you found Lexi, sorry my phones been off, I'm still at work"

"Yes I did,but we're on our way down to hospital now"

"What , why what's happened?"

"She's in a really bad way, she's got a terrible fever, she's been sick loads and she's all achy and shivery"

"It could be flu, but bring her in anyway so we can check her out" Thomas said concerned

"Is there any way you could see her?" Rachel asked, knowing that there was no one she'd trust more than her husband to treat her daughter

"I'm not sure Rachel, you know I'm not supposed to treat anyone who I've got a personal relationship with" Thomas said but he was hoping he could bend the rules a bit here

"You've only known Lexi a couple of weeks"

"I'll see what I can do, no guarantee though" Thomas said "tell them who you are down at reception"

By the time they got to hospital Lexi was in an awful way and Rachel rushed her inside as quickly as she could.

Thomas had some how managed to pull a few strings and bend some rules slightly and was able to see her so when Rachel and Lexi got called through she was very pleased to see him.

She wanted to go over and hug him, knowing this would comfort her but she knew how important it was he was professional particularly since this wasn't really supposed to happen anyway and Rachel was grateful to him for bending the rules.

"Hi sweetheart" he said to Lexi "can you remember who I am?' He asked

Lexi was all confused and dizzy so she shook her head, crying still.

Thomas started making notes immediately

"What's been the main symptoms"

"Erm nausea, fever, she's been aching everywhere, she fainted earlier too"

"Confusion I gather?"

"Yes"

"Any shortness of breath"

"No" Rachel answered

"Diarrhoea?"

"No I don't think so"

"I'm going to check her for a rash when I examine her, but have you noticed anything"

"No I gave her a bath earlier and I didn't notice anything then"

"Headaches"

"Yes they've been really bad I think and she's been feeling really dizzy too"

"Okay, and has she been sensitive to light?"

"Yes she asked me to turn the bedroom light off earlier" Rachel remembered

Thomas then got Lexi to lie on the table while he examined her thoroughly.

"To me this looks like meningitis" Thomas told Rachel

"Meningitis? That's really bad isn't is" Rachel said panicking now

"Bacterial can be very dangerous yes, but it seems like Lexi has viral, the symptoms are similar to flu but much more severe, though we'll need to do a lumbar puncture to make sure"

Hearing all this made Rachel very worried, she remembered having a lumbar puncture done once when she was in hospital and remembered how much pain She'd been in, she hated the thought of Lexi having to go through that

"And what's the treatment for viral meningitis?" Rachel asked

"For viral there's no specific treatment, in very severe cases we can give patients anti viral medication but I don't think Lexi will need that, once they've confirmed from the lumbar puncture that's what it is they'll probably discharge her, though we'll need to make sure she rests continuously and is very well hydrated, the symptoms should subside in about 3- 4 days but she'll be exhausted afterwards, overall recovery time will normally be around 8-10 days" Thomas explained

Rachel didn't know how he could keep so calm, she knew just how close Thomas and Lexi had become and how much he cared for her but Thomas was very good at his job and knew what he was doing so he was in this situation, just doing his job.

About an hour later Lexi had her lumbar puncture. She was too out of it by this point though she didn't even make that much of a fuss even though it was practically torture.

Once they'd confirmed it was viral meningitis they were aloud to go home and as Thomas had finished his shift he could go with them.

It was only when they ere about half way back that Rachel realised she'd forgotten to tell Holly about all this.

She knew she was sleeping at her friends tonight so wouldn't have been home alone but she wanted to ring her anyway, she decided not to mention her knowing about her skipping today as she didn't think it was the right time.

She got through to her eventually and explained everything.

Understandably Holly was very worried and wanted to come back however Rachel told her everything would be fine and to enjoy her night.

Holly had been taken aback by her mums tone on the phone and wondered what in earth had happened to make her sound almost like a proper mum on the phone, however decided not to make anything of it thinking she'd be back to herself by tomorrow.

When they got home Thomas carried Lexi upstairs and Rachel followed close behind.

"Put her in our room Thomas, I don't want her to be alone tonight"

Thomas carried her through and put her on the bed

She was asleep now however neither of them wanted to leave her.

"You sounded terrified when you first rang me" Thomas said

"That's because I was"

"You were brilliant with her at the hospital, all I wanted to do was give her a cuddle but you know how it is, you've got to be professional no matter what the situation"

"Oh yeah I know how it is, I'm just glad you were there" Rachel said "you know what though if Lexi finishing up like this has made me realise just how much I love the two of them and what a bloody awful person I've been then it's not all bad is it?"

"No I don't suppose it is" Thomas said smiling

"Do you know earlier when I was trying to soothe Lexi, she looked so happy, even though she must have been in agony, just because I was being kind to her, Thomas how could I have denied her of that for so long, and holly even longer"

"Rachel you had your reasons"

"But my reasons aren't bloody good enough are they, treating the girls, my kids the way I have, that's inexcusable Thomas. If neither of them ever forgive me I wouldn't blame them one bit"

"Rachel they will forgive you, the two of them just need there mum, there both at ages where they need you so badly"

"And I haven't been there"

"There's no point thinking like that, it won't get you anywhere, you've got to look to the future now and think about what you can do to put it right, but the main thing is Rachel it's not too late, you can put it right"

Rachel was about to respond when Lexi suddenly stirred

"Mummy" she murmured

"Yes my love, I'm right here and so is Thomas"

"How are you feeling Lexi?" Thomas asked sounding worried, thinking she still looked very bad

"Everything hurts" Lexi said

She then started crying again feeling all confused and scared

"Oh sweetheart" Rachel whispered "you're very poorly at the moment but you're going to get better soon I promise, you've been in hospital Lexi and you are being so so brave"

"Why ar..are you being nice mummy?" Lexi asked

"Because I love you very much Lexi and I'm going to make sure I'm nice from now on I promise"

"R...really"

"Yeah, you concentrate on getting better though"

Lexi was sick again a few moments later and both Rachel and Thomas were there to help.

"You're okay Lexi, me and your mummy have got you, you're all okay" Thomas said as he wiped her face up

Lexi was feeling very weak now from being sick so much and her head was throbbing.

"Here darling, try and have a sip of some water for me" Rachel said putting the cup to her mouth

Lexi had a sip but them pushed it away

"Will that be enough?" Rachel asked Thomas

"For now it will be, at the moment she'll just sick up anything she has but we really need to make sure we keep her hydrated, she needs to make up for lost fluids"

"Try having another little sip Lexi" Rachel said

Lexi had a but more before pushing it away again

"Good girl" Thomas said stroking her forehead

"I'm r..really cold" Lexi said, she felt shivery all over however Rachel and Thomas were doing there best to keep her cool to bring the temperature down

"Our bodies are funny things Lexi, sometimes when your really hit they're still telling you it's cold, and right now you've got a terrible fever that's partly what's making you so poorly" Thomas said

"As soon as we've brought that temperature down, I'll go and buy you some brand new pyjamas I promise and I think you deserve a few treats for being so brave in hospital earlier" Rachel said

Lexi felt quite excited about this so gave a small, very weak smile.

"I've never seen a 5 year old be so brave having a lumbar puncture before, there very painful things, even adults scream when they have them done" Thomas said smiling at Lexi.

"When w..will I b..be better?" Lexi asked

"It shouldn't be too long, but you'll be in bed for quite a few days" Thomas said

"No school?" Lexi asked hopefully

"No school for now Lexi" Rachel said "but if you really don't like it, maybe we should look for another school for you, one a bit like your old one, but not boarding, I want you right near me for now" Rachel said "Thomas I can't believe this slipped my mind before, but the reason the school closed was because of meningitis is that how she got it?"

"Was it bacterial or viral"

"I don't know"

"I'd imagine it'd be viral, it's far more common and a lot less severe, but I doubt that's where Lexi got it from, symptoms would have developed quite a few days before this"

"So if it can spread, does that mean we're all at risk too?"

"It certainly does, but there's not a lot we can do to prevent it, it's just a case of hoping for the best"

"M..mummy my head r..really hurts" Lexi sobbed

"I know sweetie, it'll feel better soon I promise" Rachel said

However both Thomas and Rachel knew it'd be a few days before Lexi did start to feel better, but telling her this wouldn't do much good at the moment.

"Lexi try and have some more water for me" Thomas said

"Thomas she doesn't want to"

"I know, but if we don't keep replacing lost fluids then she's going to become badly dehydrated and then she'll be in a whole lot worse state trust me"

Rachel took the cup to her mouth and tried to get her to sip

"No" Lexi said crying "I feel sick"

"Just try Lexi" Rachel said gently

After a lot of resistance, Lexi took the cup and had some water, however this made her sick again

"Oh you poor thing" Rachel said

"Rachel if it gets much worse than this, we might have to take her down the hospital, she'll need to be put on anti viral medication and she'll need a nasogastric tube for the dehydration, which gives her fluids through the nose and anti enemics for the sickness "

"Well do you think it's worth doing that now then" Rachel said sounding worried

"I'd say we need to see how it goes for the next couple of hours, if she deteriorates we'll take her in, but I'd say the best place for her at the moment is at home with us"

"So what do we do, just hope for the best?"

"It's all we can do at the moment, we've got to just keep doing what we're doing"

"Lexi why don't you try and close your eyes for a little bit love, you'll feel better once you're asleep"

Lexi closed her eyes and it didn't take her long to fall asleep.

"I'm going to go to the chemists, get her something for the sickness"

"Won't she need a prescription"

"No you can get anti-enemics over the counter"

"What if she gets worse when you're gone?" Rachel said sounding panicked

"I'll be a couple of minutes, it's only down the road isn't it, she'll probably sleep now for a couple of hours, she'll be completely exhausted"

"I'm going to take her temperature again" Rachel said

Thomas then quickly went out and got in the car, leaving Rachel alone with Lexi.

Rachel got the thermometer and saw lexis temperature was still at 39.5 which was a lot higher than it should be, but a little lower than when she was at the hospital.

She stayed holding her hand, and luckily Lexi stayed asleep.

Thomas came back about 15 minutes later with some medicine

"Should I wake her up to give her it?" Rachel asked

"No just let her rest for now" Thomas said "did you manage to take her temperature?"

"Yeah it's 39.5" Rachel told him

"At least it's down a bit on what it was before"

Like Thomas had imagined Lexi stayed asleep for a while

"Rachel should we leave her for a bit? She'll be okay and you look you need a rest" Thomas said

Rachel agreed to this and went downstairs with Thomas and he made her a cup of coffee while she sat down.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her

"Exhausted. God it's been the longest day of my life" Rachel sighed "I just want Lexi to be okay, so I can tell her...tell her how sorry I am and how much I love her" Rachel said tears filling her eyes

Thomas didn't say anything but brought his wife into a much needed hug

"Holly skipped school today"

"Did she? Well I wouldn't worry too much, I'm sure you've skipped school a few times in your life"

"Of course, I just don't want her to, you know go off the rails, though if she did I know I'd be the only one to blame" Rachel said sadly

"Hey what did I tell you, there's no point talking like that okay"

The two of them sat talking for ages, it was good to talk to one another properly, especially after they hadn't been getting on so well over the last couple of weeks,which was very unusual for them.

Lexi woke up a while later still feeling as awful as she had done before, she panicked when she couldn't see anyone around her and tried calling out but her voice was all sore.

She decided to get out of bed and go to find them, however as soon as she got up she almost collapsed back down and she went all dizzy, everything was hurting still and her legs were all shaky but she mangled to somehow make her way downstairs and into the living room where her mum and Thomas were sat kissing.

They soon pulled apart in shock when they saw her stood there though.

"Lexi what on earth are you doing out of bed?" Rachel asked

"I woke up and I w..was sc..scared" Lexi said "I feel really p..poorly"

Rachel sighed before lifting her into her arms

"You need to stay in bed okay, it's the only way you're going to get better." She said "are you feeling any better than earlier?"

Lexi shook her head before bursting into tears again

"Come on my love, let's get you back up them stairs and into bed"

"Oh Lexi, before you go back to bed you may as well have your medicine" Thomas said

He went into the kitchen and Rachel carried Lexi through

"Now this might not taste the best, but it'll stop you being sick so much, do you reckon you can try some for me and your mummy?"

Lexi didn't like the sound of it, but she hated being sick so nodded her head and Thomas put some on a spoon for her

"Open wide" he said

Lexi did as she was told and Thomas gave it to her.

However just a minute or so later Lexi was sick again all over herself and Rachel.

She immediately started crying again, more because she was worried she'd get into trouble than anything else

"That was brilliant timing Lexi, right after you've had that medicine to stop you being sick huh" Rachel said laughing slightly "I think Thomas had better take that stuff back don't you"

"I can't be too good a doctor after all, if the stuff I bought to stop you being sick, seems to have caused you to throw up all over your mum, nice aim though Lexi" he said, playing along with it to try and cheer her up

"Yeah just try and aim for Thomas next time Lexi"

"Well that stuff should get to work in half an hour or so, so it looks like I might have just missed out"

Despite how dreadful she was feeling Lexi did giggle a bit at all this.

"Come on them you, I think we should get you cleaned up and into bed, I'm going to put you in next to me and Thomas tonight, just in case you need us through the night okay?"

Lexi nodded her head

Rachel lifted her upstairs and into her room

She quickly got changed into some pyjamas and threw her stuff in the wash basket before turning her attention to Lexi.

"You're lucky you've just got your knickers on Lexi, otherwise you'd be covered in sick too, I think you could do with a quick wash though"

Once she'd given Lexi a quick wash she tried to get her into bed, but Lexi was shaking all over and telling her how cold she was, so in the end Rachel got a thin sheet and out it over her.

"Hold on two seconds I'm going to get the thermometer, take your temperature once more before you go to sleep and I'll need to get you to drink something too, or Thomas will have my guts for garters"

When Rachel had gone to get the stuff, Lexi realised she had to go to the toilet. She didn't want to get out of bed, but she was really desperate so again struggled out of bed.

Rachel came back though just as she'd got out.

"Hey where are you going? I told you not to get out of bed" Rachel sighed

"I r..really need the t..toilet"

"Right well I'll carry you through then, you need to be on complete bed rest okay and that means all the time, if you need to get up for any reason you're going to have to tell me or Thomas"

"Even to go to the toilet?" Lexi asked

"Yes, no getting out of bed at all, unless me or Thomas say it's okay"

Rachel could see Lexi was getting really fidgety and uncomfortable so quickly carried her through to their en suite.

"M..mummy I can't go"

"You were desperate"

"But you're t..th..there"

"Darling I'm not looking or listening I promise, I'll stand outside while you go, but shout when you're done so we can brush those teeth"

Once she'd been, Rachel got her toothbrush and gave her teeth a brush before taking her back to bed.

"Now you try and get some rest, I'm going to stay with you till you fall asleep and me and Thomas are going to be up in a couple of hours, but if you wake up at all, or your sick, or you have to go to the loo again, shout one of us up and we'll come straight away" Rachel said "and I've put a bowl just next to the bed, if you feel like you're going to be sick, try and do it in there"

"W..what if I can't make it"

"Well then just shout me or Thomas up and we'll get fresh sheets on, it's no big deal, just tell us straight away"

"Okay" Lexi mumbled

Rachel stayed up with Lexi until she fell asleep before going and sitting with Thomas.

They'd been down for a while when they heard Lexi cry out for them

"Oh dear, do you reckon we do need to get her down the hospital again, her temperature is still really high"

"Well let's see what this is about, It might be necessary though" Thomas said

The two of them quickly went up and into there room

"Lexi what's the matter sweetheart?" Thomas asked

"I had a bad d..dream that I was in hospital again and d..died" lexi said

"Oh dear, that can't have been a very nice dream, but look your here with us and nice and safe, how are you feeling now Lexi, any better than before?" Thomas asked

"A l..little bit I don't f..feel as sick" Lexi said though she still did feel terrible

"Well that's good news" Rachel said "do you need us to get you anything?"

Lexi shook her head in response

"Do you need to go to the toilet or anything before you go back to sleep"

Lexi shook her head to this as well

"Is it worth just trying, because then you can settle down for the night and you won't have to get out of bed in the middle of the night"

"But it'll be cold" Lexi said

"I know you're still feeling all shivery, but we'll soon have you back in bed"

Reluctantly Lexi agreed, so Rachel carried her through and then back to bed when she was done.

"Me and Thomas are just going turn the lights off downstairs and then we'll be up too" Rachel said

"I'll turn them off Rachel, you stay up here and get into bed"

So Thomas went downstairs and Rachel got into some pyjamas and got in beside Lexi.

This time however Lexi didn't seem to settle anywhere near as well, she was less tired now so more aware of how much pain she was in and how uncomfortable she was.

"Come on Lexi, try and close your eyes and go to sleep" Rachel said gently

"I can't, everywhere h..hurts too much"

Rachel sighed thinking of what she could do to soothe her, in the end she decided to read to her for a bit and see if this would helped, so she picked a book from lexis room and brought it to her.

Lexi couldn't believe how nice her mum was being, she'd always dreamed of having a mum who would care for her and look after her when she was poorly but she thought it would never happen, she wondered if her mum was just going to be like this while she was poorly, but she was determined to make the most of it.

When Thomas came in and found Rachel reading to Lexi in an attempt to settle her, he smiled to himself, it was a scene he never thought he'd ever get to see.

He tried not to disturb them as he for undressed and into bed on the other side of Lexi.

If anyone had walked in on them now they would have looked like the perfect family.

Once Rachel had read for about 10 minutes Lexi did start to feel tired again and went back to sleep.

"Thank goodness for that, I thought she was never going to drop off" Rachel said

"I thought she was beginning to look a little better then, the fever seems to have come down a bit"

"Well let's hope things ease off by tomorrow then" Rachel said "god I'm ready for my sleep now though, it feels like today's dragged on forever"

"Should we turn this light off then?"

Rachel nodded, as soon as it was off she quickly said goodnight to Thomas before cuddling into Lexi and falling sound asleep.

Despite how exhausted she'd been, Rachel woke up early the next morning. Lexi had slept through the night though she'd been sweating loads, and her forehead was still damp now.

Rachel decided to quickly grab a shower now before Lexi woke up.

Once she'd been in,she quickly got changed into her comfy jeans and t shirt.

By the time she'd finished getting ready Lexi had woken up and was calling out for her, which woke Thomas too.

She quickly came out of the bathroom to see them both

"Morning Lexi, how are you feeling?"

"A bit b..better" Lexi said

"Oh really, that's good isn't it, you definitely look a bit better than yesterday, though you still need to completely rest for the next few days okay"

Lexi nodded, she then looked at her mum properly, it was very strange seeing her with wet hair and no makeup, she was so used to her looking really smart, with her hair straightened and makeup on with nice clothes on, she would always get ready before Lexi and Holly's even woke up so she'd never see her first thing on the morning. Lexi thought she looked a lot softer when she hadn't done herself up.

"I'm sorry, my face without my makeup can't be very nice to look at first thing on a morning, especially when your poorly" Rachel said giggling

"You look nice" Lexi said

"Aw thanks love, anyway see you going to try and have some breakfast and a drink of water for me" Rachel asked

Lexi nodded her head,but she really didn't feel up to eating anything yet

"I wouldn't give her any solids yet, just yoghurt for breakfast and soup for meals, we'll build her up from there"

"Okay, I've got some of that nice strawberry yoghurt Lexi and some chicken soup, the one you like" Rachel said, knowing how fussy Lexi could be about her food,but she really couldn't afford to loose any weight from this. She always had been very small for her age and looked at least a year or so younger than her 5 years.

Rachel brought it up for her and Lexi did manage to eat most of it.

When Rachel took her temperature she realised that although it was still higher than it should be, it was a little lower than it was yesterday.

Rachel was so relieved that Lexi seemed to be okay and couldn't wait to start to show she was serious about being a proper mum to the girls, but she only hoped they would both give her a chance, with Lexi it would be easy however she was unsure if Holly would ever be able to forgive her.

Please review, I should have another update by tomorrow x


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was later on that day and Holly had just come back In. Lexi was fast asleep upstairs for now, which Rachel was glad about as she'd been quite poorly over the last couple of hours or so but she finally seemed to have settled a bit, but she was also glad because it would give her a chance to talk to Holly properly, she still wasn't sure exactly what she was going to say to her. After all what could Rachel say, that would even begin to explain or apologise for any of this?

Thomas had gone out for a bit so it was just Rachel and the girls in the house now.

"Mum where's Lexi?" Holly asked coming into the kitchen, where her mum was sat at the table.

Holly was confused when she saw her just sat there looking all tense and nervous, she began to wonder if something bad had happened to her sister.

"What's happened? Is Lexi okay?" Holly asked her voice full of panic

"Nothing love, she's fine she's just upstairs sleeping at the moment" Rachel explained

Holly was puzzled by her mums gone, it was so much different than the one she'd normally use with her and even more puzzled by the fact she'd called her love, something she'd definitely never done before.

"Okay well can I go up and see her?"

"It might be best if you leave her for a bit, she's been feeling really unwell again this afternoon and her temperature is up again, so I'd like her to try and get as much sleep as possible" Rachel said

Holly could tell her mum was worried about Lexi and when she looked at her face she realised she had no make up on and dark circles under her eyes, it looked like she'd been up most of the night with Lexi.

"So is it just flu or something?" Holly asked

"It's erm it's viral meningitis, it's a bit like flu but the symptoms are much worse" Rachel said, holly noticed her mums voice was shaking and it looked like she was on the verge if tears, Holly had never seen her look vulnerable before.

"Are you okay?" Holly asked uncertainly

"Yes sorry love I'm it'd just been a tough couple of days, anyway how was your night"

"Fine, so what's viral meningitis, is it the same thing that they had to close the school for?"

"No, well yes it is, but Thomas doesn't think that's how Lexi got it"

"Oh right" holly said

She was about to go upstairs to her bedroom but her mum stopped her, determined to have this talk with her even though she was dreading what Holly was going to say to her.

"Holly, please can we talk?" Rachel asked

Holly was close to ignoring her and walking upstairs however in the end decided she should at lest hear what her mum had to say.

"Yep" holly replied

"Do you want me to make you a cup of tea or anything before we start"

"No" holly said a little too sharply

She went over and sat at the chair opposite her mum, wondering what on earth she was going to say to her.

"Look, I know whatever I say now, isn't going to make anything better and you'll certainly still have every right to be angry with me" Rachel said "the thing is seeing Lexi so poorly, well it's given me.. Given me the biggest wake up call ever, it's made me realise how selfish I've been and well.. What a crap mum I've been to he pair of you, I thought i was giving you a better chance by sending you away...but it turns out that i was very wrong and I'd like the opportunity to make up for that if you'll let me"

"So that's it, we just forget the past 15 years of my life and suddenly we're happy families again" holly said the emotion and anger building in her voice "I had to grow up without a mum, do you have any idea what that's like? All the other girls got visits and cars and presents and I got fuck all from you. I had to watch all my friends go off with their mums for shopping trips or weekends away and I was stuck at school. How do you think it was for me when I first started boarding, I was scared, I'd cry myself to sleep every night and have nightmares, but i had no one to comfort me. When I was lexis age every Saturday I'd stay by the window all day just hoping you'd show up for once, but you never did. When I was 10 and I started struggling at school, you weren't there to get me some help, tell me everything was going to be okay. What about when I was 11 and I got my period for the first time, I was scared and I had no one to help me, you should have been there to comfort me, tell me what to do but you weren't? Or when I was 13 and some boy called me fat, so I got all obsessive about my weight, I used to make myself sick after every meal I ate, I nearly ended up in hospital mum and you didn't have any idea about it and you know why? Because you couldn't give a shit about me and you never will. Oh and then when I was 14 and I started to go off the rails, I bunked off school, I'd sneak out with friends every weekend and get off my face, I starting smoking, I even did drugs mum and I'd steal things, and you know why? Because I thought they'd ring you and you'd have to pay me some attention and getting like that was better than being all lonely. So don't you ever try and make up for it and say you're sorry. What you've done to me, it's inexcusable mum. Don't you dare try and be a mum to me now, you're 15 years too fucking late"

Tears were rolling down Rachel's cheeks now, she'd never felt so guilty before in her life and she realised how pathetic her first attempt to make things right with her daughter must have sounded. It also sounded that Holly had, had a really tough time of it so far and she hadn't been there for any of it, she didn't think she'd ever forgive herself for this. She realised she was going to have to give her an explanation, even if it meant telling her the things she hated talking about most.

"You're right, I am 15 years too late, and saying sorry isn't good enough, even though I mean it" Rachel said her voice breaking as she tried to speak "but at least hear me out. When I was younger I did a lot of terrible things, but I'm not lying when I say I had a terrible life, my mum was hooked on drugs, my dad abused me both physically and..and sexually, it was the worst time of my life and it was something I had to get away from"

Holly couldn't believe what her mum was saying she couldn't believe her dad had abused her like that.

"So one night, I packed up what little I had and I made a run for it, I stole some money out of my mums purse and I got a taxi to take me down to the station, I caught the train down to London and when I got there I had no where to go, I didn't have any money or friends to set me up, I was completely alone. I slept rough for a few weeks, but when you're a girl, alone in London that's dangerous stuff Holly. So in the end I met a girl who said she knew people who could fix me up and in the end I took it, but at the time I had no idea what that would cost me. I had to earn some momey somehow to pay them back, and that's when I found out how all the other girls there did to earn it. I was a prostitute Holly, I had sex with up to 5 men a night for money, because I was desperate and it was my only way of getting by. It was a terrible, terrible life and one I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy" Rachel said her voice trembling and tears rolling quickly down her cheeks

"Mum if you don't want to tell me ..." Holly said tears forming in her own eyes now

"I'd been getting by this way for around three years" Rachel said cutting her daughter off, she wanted to tell her, her story because she knew if she didn't tell her now she never would and then her daughter really would never forgive her "and then one month, I noticed I was late on my period, I suppose it was bound to happen one day when I was doing what I did, sometimes without protection, anyway I took a test and I found out I was pregnant so I got myself down the doctors and I was 2 months along, I couldn't sleep for days for worrying about what I was going to do, if I has you it would mean I had no job, no where to go, no money I knew what an awful life it would be for the pair of us, but I couldn't bring myself to book an abortion, to me it always seemed so cruel and knowing I had a tiny baby growing inside of me, made me realise I had to stop and get out somehow. I ended up spending the rest of my pregnancy in a hostel, but I managed to access some education, I'd done well at school, I was on track for good grades in my a-levels when my dad made me stop because he wanted me around more, anyway I got back into it and finished up with good grades, so I could get myself info uni, but then you were born and at the time I was so cold and bitter after everything I'd been out through I just didn't try to connect with you, every time I looked at your face it just reminded me of everything I'd been through, and I know how awful that makes me sound. I got myself a degree in english and then I got my teaching qualifications, I'd always loved children and I wanted to inspire them and help them, I suppose even then I'd have been a good mum I just didn't want to try. As soon as I was earning enough money I shipped you off to boarding school. For a while everything was going well, I was recognised as a good teacher and I got a lot of promotions, but then I found Lexis dad, he seemed so lovely at the time and them after a while he'd start to hit me, I'd hide it well, and I just couldn't seem to get out of it, he threatened to kill me if I left, I found out I was pregnant with Lexi after a while and he'd still hit me even though I had his daughter growing inside of me, when she was born he stopped for a while but then one night Lexi wouldn't stop screaming, he always did hate it when she cried, he went up to her room and he picked her up, he was about to throw her back in her cot, but I walked in and saw what he was doing so I grabbed her out of his arms, and then he turned on me, he threw me against the wall so hard it broke my arm, I knew I'd have to get out, so when he'd left for the pub I made a run for it with Lexi. That's when I finished up here, I reported him to the police and they caught him, he's in prison now still due to be released soon, but ever since that instant I felt so guilty about what could have happened to Lexi, I convinced myself she'd be better off without me and as soon as I could, she joined you at boarding school. But Holly no matter how wrong I was and however much of a terrible mum I've been, don't you ever think I had it easy either, because that it so so far from the truth"

Holly couldn't believe how open her mum had been with her and what a truly horrendous life she'd had, tears were rolling down her cheek, she couldn't believe she'd been so harsh on her mum before, if she'd known all this, she certainly wouldn't have been. Although she'd never forgive her mum for leaving her, she could understand why she did it, and couldn't believe how brave and strong her mum must have been to get out of all that.

"Mum why didn't you tell me this before?" Holly asked crying "I can't believe you went through all that"

"Well it sounds like you've been through a hell of a lot yourself Holly, and I've sworn to myself I'd never tell you, I didn't want to upset you mostly. There's very few people who know about any of this, Thomas is one of the only people that do"

"Do you ever see your mum or dad now"

"They both died a while ago, but no I never saw them again after I ran away"

"Mum I'm sorry if I seemed so harsh on you earlier, I just wanted you to understand what it was like for me"

"Like I said, you've got every right to be angry, what I've told you doesn't change that. I really am sorry about all the things you went through though" Rachel said "how is everything now?" She asked gently

"Okay, I've sort of got back on track now, I still go out drinking too much and I guess I can be a bit wild and as you know I still smoke now and then, but I don't touch drugs I swear"

"Well I'm glad to hear that, drugs are dangerous Holly, it scares me that you went anywhere near them in the first place, but as you pointed out I wasn't there to stop you"

"It was only the once and I'd never do it again"

"Well if you do decide to give me a chance and decide to stay here instead of back to the boarding school, then I'm afraid we are going to have to set some proper rules, I don't want you going off the rails Holly, you're a bright girl with a bright future ahead of you, you can't let anything damage that"

"So you mean, me and Lexi can live with you...like forever, even after everything I've told you, about the drugs, the bunking off school and all that"

"Yeah, I'd like nothing more for you and Lexi to stay with me, but it's up to you, if you don't want to give me a second chance then...then I'd more than understand"

Holly thought about it, all she'd ever wanted was a move that loved her and now it seemed as if she was finally getting that, she didn't want to blow the one chance she'd had in her whole life of some proper security and love

"I want to stay with you, but I'll miss my old school, I've got good friends there" holly said

From what it sounded like to Rachel, Holly had got in with a bad crowd in her last school and Rachel was glad she was moving away from them, however she wasn't going to say that now

"Well if you want we can look for a different school for you, I do understand having your mum as your head teacher can't be much fun, but I know you've made some good friends there already. I've already agreed with Lexi that she's going to move schools, to be honest the one she's at at the moment isn't the best by far and I think lexis very vulnerable at the moment, there's a school nearby it's the best in the area, but the prices match it, still I guess me and Thomas can afford if at the moment, there's a secondary school there too, if you fancied something a bit more like your old school, rather than waterloo road, which is rough around the edges to say the least, we can have a look round when I go with Lexi when she's feeling better"

"Maybe" holly said

"Well have a think about it yeah? There's no rush"

"Yeah I will" holly said "mum I need to tell you something"

"Okay, what is it love?"

"I didn't go to school yesterday, I skipped with a few of my friends" holly told her mum

It had completely slipped Rachel's mind to talk to her daughter about that and it pleased her that Holly had mentioned it and been honest with her even before she'd said anything about it.

"Oh yeah I heard about that" Rachel said "I don't think there's much point in me going on about it, but like I said later me and you are going to sit down and discuss some rules, and not skiving off school will be top of the list"

Holly gave her mum a quick smile, grateful she hadn't gone on about it.

A moment or so later Thomas walked in and saw Rachel and Holly sat together, he took in there tear stained faces and wondered what had happened.

"Everything okay?" He asked uncertainly

"Oh yeah, everything's fine me and Holly have just been having a talk"

"I'm going to go and watch tv now mum"

"Alright Holly"

Holly walked upstairs into her room and put the tv on.

"How did your talk with Holly go?" Thomas asked

"I told her everything and she told me everything, it was strange being so open with her, but it was much needed" Rachel said

There conversation was interrupted however by Lexi coming downstairs, even though both Rachel and Thomas were constantly telling her to stay in bed, she'd keep getting up even though she was feeling very poorly

"Oh Lexi, what have we told you, you need to stay in bed" Rachel sighed, scooping her up in her arms.

"I woke up and I was feeling r..really poorly" Lexi said, Rachel noticed that as Lexi was becoming more relaxed around her, her stammer was improving considerably, at times she would hardly notice it now

"Why didn't you shout me or Thomas up then?"

"You d..didn't hear me"

"Well I'll make sure we listen more carefully next time" Rachel said "I do know it can't be very nice stood up there on your own, especially when you're poorly"

"My tummy really hurts and I'm s..still all shivery" Lexi said beginning to cry

"Oh darling don't cry" she said "look I think you could do with a little change of scenery, how about we get the double sofa bed out in the living room and we'll put a film on, it's a double bed so I'll watch with you too, will that be okay dr Thomas" Rachel said

"I don't see the harm in that" Thomas said smiling "I fancy a film too, so make sure it's a good one"

"We'll have a look on sky movies, Thomas will you take Lexi from me for a second and I'll set the bed up"

Thomas took Lexi out of Rachel's arms and Lexi snuggled into him.

"Now then Lexi, are you going to have some more of your medicine?" He asked

Lexi shook her head, she hated the taste of the medicine she was given.

"Not even for me" Thomas said making puppy dog eyes at Lexi, which caused her to giggle.

Thomas got it out while still carrying Lexi and put if on a spoon, he did an aeroplane with it, as though Lexi were a baby again, but it made her laugh and cheered her up a tiny but and she had all her medicine without complaining.

"Good girl"

Thomas then carried her through to the living room and put her on the bed Rachel had made up.

He got in on one side of her and Rachel on the other and together they chose a film, well really they let Lexi choose herself and went along with whatever she picked.

In the end Lexi decided on the new Cinderella film, which they all ended up enjoying.

When they were about half way through Lexi started tapping Rachel on the shoulder so Rachel turned round to face her

"What's up Lexi"

"Mummy I'm really tired" she said

"Oh okay, should we watch the rest a bit later then?"

Lexi nodded her head, do Rachel turned it off for now.

"Hey I was enjoying that" Thomas said

"I know you were, you big softie but Lexi feels tired so I said we'd pause it for a bit"

"Okay as long as we can watch the rest later"

"Oh you'll get to see it don't worry" Rachel said giggling "right Lexi, do you want to just stop down here, since we have the bed set up"

Lexi nodded her head.

"Okay shout if you need us, no getting up promise" Rachel said

"I promise"

"Good girl, I'll be just through the kitchen so I'll be able hear you straight away"

Once Thomas had left Lexi said "mummy"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"I h..have to go to the toilet?"

"Right I'll carry you through"

"I can walk b..by myself"

"I know love, it's just that I dint want you getting dizzy or anything, how about you take my hand and I'll walk you? I suppose you need to stretch your legs a bit, even if it is just to go to the loo"

Lexi carefully took Rachel's hand and got out of bed. As soon as she did she almost fell back over, she was extremely weak and could only walk very slowly.

Lexi began to cry again because she hated not being able to do things for herself

"Oh Lexi, I do understand it's so frustrating for you, but I promise before long you'll be running round all by yourself again, it's not going to be like this forever."

They were about half way to the toilet when Lexi suddenly became really fidgety

"Lexi, how about I carry you though, just so you don't end up having an accident, then we'll go for a little walk round the garden"

Lexi agreed to this so let Rachel carry her and as soon as she was done they walked through the kitchen

"Rachel what's Lexi doing out of bed?" Thomas asked

"Thomas she needs to stretch her legs a bit, she's completely fed up, please just let me walk her round the garden once"

"Well I suppose it can't do much harm, she'll be very weak though so watch her"

"I've got tight hold" Rachel said smiling

She got her shoes on and then took Lexi outside

"Mummy w..when I'm b..better can I go swimming in y..your pool"

"Yes of course, that's what it's there for" Rachel said smiling "seeing as it's summer, hopefully you'll get some use out of it, though in England there's no guarantee"

" your h..house Is so b..big"Lexi said causing Rachel to smile

"Well I suppose it is good for hide and seek, and it's not just my house remember it's yours too love"

Hearing her mum say this caused Lexi to smile

They walked for a bit longer but then Lexi was getting very weak and tired so Rachel carried her back in and put her back on the sofa bed.

Rachel left her to it for a bit and her and Thomas went into the kitchen, Thomas made them both a cup of coffee while Rachel started preparing tea.

"What are we having tonight darling?" He asked

"I was going to make spaghetti and meatballs" Rachel said

"Mm my favourite" he said wrapping his arms around his wife and kissing her on the cheek.

After they both had there coffee, Thomas went up to his study for a while and Rachel got on with tea.

When it was ready she shouted everyone downstairs and went into the living room to check on Lexi, who had just woken up.

"Lexi we're going to have tea now, but I've got your soup ready and I'll come and give it to you afterwards, it just needs re heating" Rachel said "It won't be too long I promise, do you want me to put that film back on for you?"

"Yes please" Lexi said

Rachel quickly put it back on for her before joining the others in the kitchen

"Mum can I go to a party tonight?" Holly asked hopefully

Rachel sighed, her daughter going out and drinking most weekends really was something she wanted to stop, it was unhealthy for her, especially when she was only 15, but at the same time she didn't want to stop her from going

"Okay but I'll pick you up"

"You don't have to do that"

"No it's fine, I want to" Rachel said

"Okay, well thanks I guess, I think the party will be on till about 2 but I'll come out at midnight"

"Thanks, I can't say I really fancy staying up till 2" Rachel said

She decided to have the chat with holly about setting some rules after she'd given lexi her tea, if she was going to be living with her from now on, it was time Holly knew were the boundaries were.

They finished there tea and Thomas cleared up as Rachel went to give Lexi her soup.

Once they were finished she went up to Holly's room, where she'd started getting ready for the party.

"Holly I wanted to have that talk to you about rules"

Holly rolled her eyes and sighed but turned to face her mum

"So basically when you stop me from having any life anymore" holly said

"No it isn't about that, but I'd be being a pretty crap mum if I just let you do what you like"

Well you've done that for the rest of my life, why change now? Holly nearly said but just stopped herself.

"Fine"

"Okay, basically you show respect to me and Thomas in the house, no swearing at or in front of me or Thomas, and now I want to move on to the thing about smoking and drinking"

"Mum it's not a big deal"

"No holly it is a big deal, look I've got no problem with you going to parties and having a drink, but not getting off your face and certainly not every weekend, you could end Up in hospital Holly"

"So you're going to stop me going out"

"No and I didn't say that did I? It's just got to be in moderation, you're 15 there's still plenty of time for all that. Look I've agreed to let you go out tonight but just see if you can go without getting stupid drunk and there will be times when I do say no to you going out and I'd appreciate it if you respect that and as for the smoking it stops as soon as possible, I'm really not happy about it"

"Fine" holly said "can you leave me to get ready now?"

Rachel could tell Holly was angry with her But it was something that had to be done. She decided to leave it for now and go downstairs.

A couple of hours later, holly materialised downstairs

Both Thomas and Rachel did a double take when they saw her, Thomas nearly choked on his coffee. She was in a tiny tight black skirt and an even smaller white lacy crop top.

"Holly you can't go out like that" Rachel said "you're asking for trouble"

"I'll be fine" holly said

"Holly go up and change" Rachel said

"No way" holly said adamantly

"Holly we can't let you go out dressed like that" Thomas said gently "I think it'd be pretty irresponsible of us"

Holly was about to protest more, but in the end stomped upstairs and got changed into a black dress

It was still much too short and tight for Rachel's liking but a lot better than what she had on earlier and she was pleased that her daughter had changed for her.

"You look lovely" Rachel said smiling at her daughter

"Thanks" holly said "I know I was meant to be getting a lift, but Jenny's bailed on me so is there any chance you could give me one?"

"Sure, then I'll know where I'm going when I pick you up later"

Holly smiled at her mum gratefully before going out to the car

They were about half way there when Holly realised they were near tesco

"Mum please can we nip to tesco first?"

"What for?"

"Drink" holly said truthfully "you're meant to bring your own, I don't need much just a few cans"

Rachel rolled her eyes but knee that if she didn't get her some, she'd just get it off someone else so reluctantly agreed, however she wasn't one bit happy about buying alcohol for her 15 year old daughter.

"I think we'll need to set you up an allowance holly, if you want drink for when you go to party's it'll have to start coming out of that"

"Fine" holly said as they went into the shop together

"Can you just get me some bulmers and some Malibu mixers?"

"Yep and that's your lot"

"Well can't I get a bottle of something too?"

"No, there's more than enough in those packs" Rachel said sharply

Holly could tell her mum wasn't going to weaken so just went along with it.

Before long they arrived outside the house

"Right have a good night, be sensible and I really do mean that okay" Rachel said "now I'm trusting you"

"Okay okay I get it, bye mum see you later"

"Be out here at 12 sharp"

Holly agreed to this before quickly going out and into the house, so Rachel drive back home

When she got back she was shouted through to the living room by Thomas. When she got in he explained that Lexi seemed to have taken a bit of a turn for the worse while she'd been out and her temperature was back up and she was being sick again, despite the fact she'd seemed a bit better that afternoon.

"She's not as bad as she was last night though" Thomas said reassuringly "she just can't seem to hold down any food or drink"

"Oh Lexi" Rachel said softly "you're going to start to feel better soon I promise"

She crouched down beside her and started stroking her cheek gently

"I think we should get her back into our room it'll be cooler for her in there"

"I'm going to give her a bath first" Rachel said

"Well I'll stay down with her until you've finished running it" Thomas said

Rachel smiled at him, it really did amaze her how good he was with Lexi, despite the fact she wasn't even related to him.

She went upstairs and as soon as the bath was run she carried Lexi up.

Lexi started to feel a bit better once she was in the bath, it always did make her feel a lot more relaxed.

Rachel let her stay in for quite a while but then got her out and ready for bed.

"Should we go and say night, night to Thomas first huh?"

Lexi nodded so Rachel carried her downstairs to say night to Thomas.

Once she'd got her back upstairs, she read the next chapter if the book they started last night before she fell asleep. Rachel kissed her goodnight gently before leaving.

The next few hours seemed to pass quite quickly and before long it was time for Rachel to pick Holly up.

She was in her pyjamas after her bath and didn't see the pint of getting changed again as it wasn't like she was going to be getting out the car. She put her brown leather jacket on before driving round to pick Holly up.

She was there a bit early and wasn't expecting to see Holly for a while but much to her surprise she came out just a couple of minutes after Rachel had got there.

It didn't take Rachel long to realise though, that despite her going on for ages about being sensible Holly hadn't taken in a word of it and was clearly very drunk.

Rachel sighed and ran her hands through her hair, something she always did when she felt stressed.

Holly saw her mum and staggered over to the car and got in the front seat next to Rachel

"Mum" she screamed when she saw her trying to wrap her arms round Rachel "see I told you I'd be good and I've been very very good" she slurred

Rachel just rolled her eyes

"I'm not even drunk at all, because I'm a very good daughter even if you've been a bad mum to me, but you told me why and I understand, because I'm so good"

"Come on let's get you home" Rachel sighed, realising just how drunk her daughter was

"No I don't want to go" holly screamed "I want to stay here, but you can come in the house and you can party with us, there's lots and lots of drink for you and there's lots and lots of hot boys, you'll really like it"

" I think you might be forgetting I'm your 39 year old mother, my days of partying with teenagers are long gone"

"But it shouldn't matter, we should all just party together,because that would be fun and I like fun" holly said giggling "I think I might just go and live in there because then I'd always be at a fucking party and that would be really fucking fun"

"What the hell have you had to drink?" Rachel asked

"Well I had lots and lots to drink, some guy have me shots, we all had shots and it was so fucking fun"

"Shots of what?"

"Well he got it from Spain, because it's illegal over here, because England is so fucking boring and Spain must be nicer because they let them get it over there, because there not boring they like fun" holly said "it was called absinthe"

"Holly that's deadly stuff" Rachel said panicked now

"Well it made me drunk and being drunk makes me a happy holly so that's good" holly said "when I'm drunk it's fun, but when I'm not I'm always very very sad and that's bad"

Rachel looked at her daughter and suddenly felt really sorry for her, Holly knew exactly what she was doing when she went out, she'd intend to get this drunk so she could block everything out. It made her feel terrible that a 15 year old saw this as the only way to feel happy.

"Come on you, let's go home" Rachel said her voice sounding quite gentle now

"I don't want to go fucking home" holly screamed before suddenly bursting into tears "everyone likes me in the party but no one likes me in real life even my friends are bitches sometimes"

Rachel sighed, but knew there was nothing she could say here as her daughter was completely out of if

"I just want to be in a different fucking life" holly said sobbing

"Hey come on, now that isn't true, you can't want that really"

"Yes I do" holly said

"I'm going to take you home and up to bed, please don't be sick in the car, save it till you get home yeah"

Rachel then drove back as quickly as she could and luckily holly wasn't sick in the car.

As soon as she parked up though Holly opened the door straight away and fell onto the ground

Rachel sighed when she saw her and rushed over to her

"Come on stand up"

"No I'll just sleep on the floor tonight" holly said

Rachel realised she wasn't going to stand up on her own but whenever she tried to help her holly kept pushing her off

Luckily Thomas had woken up when Rachel had pulled up on the drive and had seen what was going on so rushed out to help.

"Oh dear" he said rushing over to her

"You're going to have to help me get her in"

"I want to stay out here" holly screamed "I want you both to fuck off"

"I know you do Holly, but it's really not that comfortable on the ground, it'll get cold tonight and the neighbours might think we're a bit mad if we let a 15 year old go to sleep on the floor outside, I'm sure you'd much rather sleep in your nice warm bed" Thomas reasoned

Holly gave up then and let Thomas and Rachel help her back inside

As soon as they let go of her she fell straight back down to the ground.

They both helped her back up and got her up to her room.

Thomas left her with Rachel, to get her into bed

"Right we need to get you into something more comfy to sleep in" Rachel said

She helped get Holly changed into some pyjamas

"I don't want to go to sleep" holly protested

"I know but sleep is the one thing you really need right now young lady" Rachel said

"But then I'll be sober again"

"Yep and you'll have a very angry mum to deal with first thing tomorrow morning" Rachel said, but the truth was she wasn't really angry, more just disappointed that her daughters life had finished up like this and ashamed because she knew she was the main reason why it had, she knew she'd have a long way to go with Holly before things were anywhere near better.

"Oh no I don't like angry people everyone should be happy always" holly said "and drunk always because then you're always happy"

"Holly go to sleep"

"I have to wee"

Rachel sighed but got her out of bed and helped her find her way to her en suite.

Once she was done holly staggered back out and Rachel helped her back to bed.

"Sleep Holly, be prepared for her sore head and a lecture tomorrow"

By now Holly had basically passed out so Rachel flicked her light off

She then went back to bed herself, feeling completely drained

"How's she doing"

"Not good, I managed to get her into bed though"

"What did she have to get her in that state?"

"Absinthe alongside a load of other stuff" Rachel sighed

"Absinthe? God that stuff can be lethal, seriously I remember a girl came in once, just a bit older than Holly, after drinking just a few shots of that stuff, we tried pumping her stomach but her BAC was just too high, over 400 if I remember rightly, she went into a coma and then died just an hour later, I've seen a few cases like it though kids going out to parties, having no idea what there drinking, or when to stop they finish up with alcohol poisoning"

Hearing this suddenly made Rachel feel sick, something like this could easily effect Holly and that girl that Thomas mentioned could have been how Holly ended up after tonight.

"Oh my god" Rachel said "you know what, I'm going to stop her going out for a while, she won't like it one bit but we have got to put a stop to this once and for all"

"I think you're right, it's just a shame most kids don't seem to know about all the health risks that go alongside binge drinking, of they did I doubt we'd get as many admissions as we do"

Rachel thought for a moment before saying "Thomas, would you sit in with me tomorrow when I talk to her, if I tell her about all the dangers with drinking not a word of it will go in, but it's different coming from you, maybe she'll actually listen"

"Of course I will" Thomas said "you know I'm happy to help when I can"

Rachel didn't have time to reply though because suddenly Lexi woke up

"Hey Lexi what's up?" She asked

"N..nothing I just w..woke up because I could hear you talking"

"Oh I'm sorry love, we didn't mean to wake you, we thought you were fast asleep, come on you settle back down to sleep and me and Thomas will do the same"

As soon as they were settled the three of them quickly fell asleep.

Luckily for Holly both Rachel and Thomas finished up lying in, till 9 this was very unusual for them as normally they'd be up early, however the last few days seemed to have caught up with them a bit.

Lexi woke too and she could tell straight away she was feeling a bit better because she didn't feel all shivery anymore.

"Morning Lexi, how are you feeling?"

"A bit better"

"Oh that's good, I glad about that" Rachel said smiling "oh my goodness is that the time?" She said when she saw the clock.

She quickly got out of bed and jumped in the shower and got changed before going Ito Holly's room,she'd wanted to wake her up earlier but as she'd slept in this wasn't an option.

holly was still fast asleep when her mum walked in.

Rachel went over and started shaking her awake.

When Holly did start to wake up, she could feel the effects of the night before straight away, her head was pounding and she felt really sick.

Suddenly she started to remember some of last night, how much she'd embarrassed herself at the party and how she'd been when her mum picked her up, she had to stop her spec from crying straight away and wanted to wait till her mum went out.

"Come on you, up you get if you're old enough to get into a state like you did last night you're old enough to pay for it the next morning"Rachel said

Holly sat up and looked at her mum

"Downstairs in 15 minutes okay, me and Thomas want to talk to you"

"What's Thomas got,to do with it, he's not my dad" holly said

"Well if it wasn't for him you'd have been sleeping on the pavement last night" Rachel said

As soon as Rachel left tears started to form in Holly's eyes as she remembered last night, she suddenly felt all lonely and upset

She stayed in bed for a few minutes before getting up and going downstairs, she curled up on the sofa and put one of the cushions against her, she was down there even before Rachel and Thomas so they were surprised when they saw her curled up on the sofa

They could both tell she must have had a little cry to herself and did feel a bit sorry for her.

"How's the head?" Thomas asked

"Sore"

"Well make sure you drink plenty of water" Rachel said sitting down next to her as Thomas took the seat opposite "now last night, I'm sure I don't need to tell you how irresponsible it was"

"I know" holly mumbled

"You could have ended up in serious danger Holly"

"Your mums right you know, I was telling her earlier about a young girl In a similar state to you were last night, in the end she slipped into a coma and we couldn't save her. But of course we've seen lots of cases like it, teenagers ending up with alcohol poisoning from drinking too much too quickly, it can come on quite suddenly if your alcohol to blood concentration is too high, you see your body can only process 1 unit an hour. Drinking as much as you clearly did last night you can end up severely dehydrated, which is known to leave brain damage, you can finish up unconscious or fitting and of course if people don't get there quick enough or you stop breathing you could die, what if you'd have been alone for a bit and finished up choking on your own vomit? It happens Holly I've seen it"

Hearing all this made Holly feel really scared, she knew drinking was bad for her but she didn't realise it could cause her to become that Ill while she was doing it, she thought it was just that it would cause problems 50 years down the line.

A few tears ran down Holly's face as she began to realise just how much danger she'd been putting herself in.

"Now I'm not saying this to upset you, I'm just telling you to warn you, when you're mum tells you to be sensible it's not because she wants to ruin your fun and stop you from having a good time, it's because she doesn't want to get a call saying her 15 year old daughters had to be rushed to hospital or worse"

Holly was crying properly now and Rachel put an arm around her

"I'm sorry" holly said "I'll never get in a state like that again I promise"

"Well it won't be happening again for a while and I'm going to make sure of that, I don't want you going out at all for the next month, and I understand that sounds really mean of me, but I promise you Holly I'm doing it for you and I know it sounds rich when I haven't even been there for most of your life, but honestly all I want to do is try and help"

"Okay" holly said though tears

"Right well that's all I'm going to say about it all" Rachel said

They were about to get all get up but Holly wanted to talk to her mum first

"Mum please can I talk to you?" Holly asked

"Of course" Rachel said

"I'll go and get started on some breakfast" Thomas said, understanding that Holly would probably want to speak to her mum in private.

As soon as Thomas was gone, Rachel turned round so she was facing her daughter

"What is it love?" She asked

Holly didn't say anything at first but continued to cry so Rachel pulled her into her chest

"Hey you can talk to me" Rachel said "look you can tell me anything, I'm not going to be mad"

When Holly still didn't say anything Rachel said "are you just feeling a bit upset about last night night huh?"

"Sort of, it's just last night at the part I embarrassed myself so much, I mean the people there don't even know me that well and there going to think I'm such a freak and won't even want to go near me at school anymore" holly sobbed, she didn't know why she was telling her mum all this as talking to her still felt a bit like talking to a stranger but right now she needed to talk to someone and her mum was the only option

"Oh Holly, you can't be the only one at that party who was drunk and a load of girls came out laughing with you at the end"

"I know I just feel stupid"

"Don't feel stupid, everyone makes mistakes, especially when you're a ten eager, it's all part of growing up isn't it? I know I made plenty of mistakes when I was your she Holly" Rachel said thinking back to when she was 15 "but what does worry me is some of the things you said to me last night"

"Oh I know I kept swearing and might have told you and Thomas to F off a few times, but it was just because I was drunk, I didn't mean it"

"I wasn't actually talking about that, though swear like you were doing last night in front of me again and you'll be having your mouth washed out with soap young lady" Rachel said semi jokingly "no I was more worried about how upset you seemed, you told me how much you hated your life and that you thought no one liked you"

"Mum I was just drunk you say all sorts when your drunk don't you" holly said determined to play it down the last thing she wanted was her mum to start seriously worrying and fussing over her all the time

"I guess so"

"I just really hope no one says anything at school on Monday" Holly sighed

"don't dwell on it too much, I'm sure everything will fine but if not then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it okay"

"Okay" Holly said

"And holly I really don't want you to think I was being unfair or trying to punish you by saying you're not allowed out, I just really do think it's for the best just for a while okay"

"Yeah I know, it's fine I don't want to go out for a bit either"

"Anyway are you going to go up and get changed" Rachel said

"Yeah" holly said before going up to get ready for the day.

Rachel sighed as she went up, knowing she still had a long way to go with her daughter yet.

Please review x


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Just wanted to say thank you so much for the reviews everyone and if anyone's got any story lines they'd like to feature, just suggest them or PM me if you'd prefer. A guest asked why I referred to Lexi as ivy, I must have got confused sorry.

A few weeks had passed by and now Lexi had fully recovered and had started at the school in the area, when they looked round both Lexi and Rachel both seemed to really like it and Lexi had settled in perfectly and was loving it there now. The relationship between Rachel and both her daughters seemed to be strengthening every day and she was learning so much about them, for instance when Lexi had first moved in with her she'd presumed she was very shy, however it turned out Rachel was wrong and Lexi had become quite mischievous and could be an absolute terror at times, Rachel didn't really mind though, she was just glad that Lexi seemed to feel settled here and her confidence had grown enormously, this was in part due to all the time Thomas had put in with her in helping Lexi overcome her stammer, which was mostly non apparent now.

It was a Friday morning and Thomas wasn't going into work till a bit later today, so he was still in bed when Rachel was up. As soon as she was dressed herself she went and knocked on Holly's door to make sure her alarm had woken her up and she was getting ready.

Rachel then went through to lexis room and found her already awake and sat up in bed. Lexi had decided she wanted a day off school today and wasn't planning on getting up anytime soon.

"Morning Lexi" Rachel said

"Morning mummy" Lexi said "mummy I'm not going to go into school today, I'm just going to stay here" she said sweetly

"Oh is that what you've decided is it?" Rachel said "well unfortunately young lady that isn't how the world works, we've all got to do things we don't want to from time to time so up you get please"

Lexi didn't say anything, but folded her arms across her chest and didn't move to show she didn't intend to do as her mum had told her

The look on lexis face and the way she was sat, was almost enough to cause Rachel to burst out laughing however she bit her lip and stopped herself, she knew she'd been letting Lexi get away with murder over the last week or so because after 5 years of missing out on her life she wanted to make it up properly now and didn't want to be shouting at her, however she knew if she kept letting her get away with anything Lexi would just presume she could do what she wanted, so Rachel realised she had to start showing her firm side a bit more and make Lexi know the boundaries.

"Lexi I'm not playing games with you, get up now please" Rachel said trying to sound firm, but it was very hard to when Lexi looked so funny sat there looking all stubborn

"I'm poorly"

"Lexi up now, last chance"

"But I am poorly" Lexi insisted "and what will happen if I don't get up after my last chance, does that mean it's my last chance to get up and then you're not going to make me anymore because you've asked me too many times and I've kept saying no, so you know I won't get up"

"No I'll tell you what it means, it means if you don't get out of that bed in the next 10 seconds missy and start getting ready for school, then I shall turn into I don't know..a dragon and force you to get out of bed"

"But mummy you can't actually turn into a dragon can you?" Lexi asked

Rachel sighed, living with Lexi over the last few weeks had taught her that children took things very literally.

"Who knows? Maybe I would if I got angry enough, which I will if you don't get out of bed this instant young lady"

"Well I'm poorly so I'm going to stay here" Lexi said.

Over the last few weeks Lexi had picked up on the fact her mum would never really shout at her and she didn't seem particularly strict, very unlike the house mistresses who Lexi was so used to by now, who although were very caring would stand for no nonsense what so ever, Lexi was enjoying being able to be a bit naughty around here as she'd never got the chance to be before and like any young child would she was taking advantage of it.

"Great" Rachel muttered under her breath

"Why do you think it's great mummy?"

"I don't think it's great one bit young lady, I think you're being very silly"

"But you just said it was great" Lexi said confused

Rachel sighed again, another thing she'd learnt was that young children did not understand sarcasm one bit

"Mummy I really am poorly and last time I said that you didn't believe me and then I was really poorly"

Rachel looked at her, she did have a point actually but right now when Lexi was looking all cute and cheeky, clearly enjoying all of this, Rachel wasn't going to believe she was poorly for one second.

"You know what Lexi, you are looking poorly actually, but it's very lucky for you isn't it since in the room just next door to this one we've got a doctor who specialises in children, I think he should be able to tell exactly what's wrong don't you?" Rachel said "in fact you look so poorly, I think we should call him through right this second"

Lexi knew she was going to get caught out now

Rachel marched through to her bedroom where Thomas was sat up having just woken up.

"Thomas come through to lexis room for me" Rachel asked

"Why is there something wrong?" He asked sounding concerned, over the last few weeks he'd started to become almost a fatherly figure to Lexi.

"Well she's saying she's poorly but I'm 100% sure it's to get out of school" Rachel said "god you should have seen her face earlier though when I told her to get out of bed, it was priceless I had to try so hard not to burst out laughing"

Thomas smiled at this before following Rachel through to lexis room.

"Ah is this the critically Ill patient" he said when he walked in and saw Lexi looking all cheeky

"I'm really poorly" she said "my tummy hurts, my head hurts and I feel all shivery again, I think I'll be sick soon"

"Oh dear, that does sound terrible" Thomas said

He walked over to her and started checking her

Once he was finished he stood back and winked at Rachel slightly before putting on a grave face

"Your mums right Lexi, you're in a bad way" he said "your temperature is through the roof, you've obviously got a terrible headache and stomach ache, it's really not looking good"

Lexi smiled, she couldn't believe that she'd managed to trick Thomas too even though he was a doctor.

"Luckily for you though Lexi, I have a cure for this right downstairs"

"What is it?"

"A big dose of that medicine you had to have when you were really sick a few weeks ago, and you'll be off chocolate and sweets too for the weekend, it'll be vegetable soup for you, that lovely green one me and Mummy had last week"

Hearing this caused Rachel to grin and Lexi to feel all disappointed, she'd rather go to school than have to eat that horrible vegetable soup and the medicine she had when she was sick, which really was enough to make anyone's stomach turn

"Actually Thomas I feel a lot better, I don't think I need any medicine or soup" Lexi said

"Well wasn't that a miraculous recovery Thomas" Rachel said

"I know, I've never seen anything quite like it" Thomas said before laughing

Lexi realised she didn't have much choice and very reluctantly got out of bed.

"Come on them start getting ready, you're not a baby you shouldn't have to wait fir me to tell you"

"Can't I just go to school in my pyjamas"Lexi asked

At first Rachel thought Lexi was joking and laughed but when she saw her face she realised she was deadly serious

"No Lexi you can not, you have a lovely school uniform so get it on please"

Lexi scowled at her mum not moving

"Lexi I'm going to count down from 5 and if you haven't got your school uniform on by then I'll..."

"Turn into a dragon again" Lexi said giggling

"Exactly, now get ready I'll be back in 5 minutes to do your hair, and I'm warning you Lexi if you're not ready by then, they'll be trouble"

Rachel left and knocked on Holly's door before going in

" you're doing a better job than your sister is at getting up and ready, and goodness me it even looks like you've made your bed and put your clothes away as well, wow what is it your after?"

"I'm not 5 years old, I know how to make a bed"

"Yes but you never do, do you? That's normally my job"

holly pulled a face at her mum and Rachel pulled one straight back.

"Mum would you maybe let me get a little tattoo sometime?"

Rachel was quite taken aback by this and couldn't believe Holly had even considered asking her, as surely she knew exactly what the answer would be

"Well there's a very simple answer to that young lady, absolutely no way ever, no child who lives in this house will be getting a tattoo and besides it's illegal at your age"

"I'll take that as a no then" holly said sulkily

"Bloody hell, how am I going to cope with the pair of you? There's Lexi who I thought was all quiet who's suddenly turned into devil child and then you who wants to go ruining your body by getting some big ugly thing printed on it"

"I said a little tattoo so it wouldn't be big" holly said

"Hey don't be getting cheeky" Rachel said "I was going to ask if you wasted to go on a shopping trip with me tomorrow, but I'll have to keep a close eye on you and watch you don't go running off to the flaming tattoo parlour while I've got my back turned"

"Don't worry" holly said grinning "yeah that'd be really fun, Lexi will be a pain in the arse though, she hates shopping, once when me and my friends went to Tesco after school once I snuck Lexi out with us too because I thought she'd like it more than the swimming they were all forced to do after school, but she got bored and wandered off and climbed to the top of this big display thing and knocked it all down, the manager was furious"

"Oh my god, did you not get in trouble for taking her out?"

"Well yeah but I was always in trouble, but they did treat us all like reception kids even in our year we weren't allowed out after school we had to do these stupid "team bonding" exercises all bloody night"

"sounds fun" Rachel said laughing "anyway I was thinking we could go just the two of us, leave Lexi at home with Thomas, I'm sure he'll take her to the cinema or Pizza Hut or something"

Holly liked the sound of this, over the last few weeks she really had started to enjoy spending time with her mum

"Yeah that'd be good" holly said smiling

"Okay that's what we'll do then"

Rachel flashed her daughter a smile before going out to check up on Lexi.

She was pleased to see she'd finally got ready when she came in.

"Right how should we do your hair today?"

"In a French plait"

"Oh Lexi, that takes ages because you hate me pulling and it's so awkward to do, can't i just put it in two plaits for you"

"Okay" Lexi sighed

Rachel did lexis hair as quickly as she could but this was never easy as Lexi would scream if Rachel so much as tugged a tiny bit too hard.

Holly had finished getting ready now and went into the bathroom. When she went to the loo she realised she must have come on her period.

This panicked Holly a bit as she hadn't brought any pads or tampons when she came to live with her mum and she didn't know what to do. Although her and Rachel were getting quite close by now she still didn't feel like she could tell her about this, it was too embarrassing.

She knew her mum must have some somewhere however she didn't know where to look.

Holly decided to walk downstairs and into her mums bedroom

Rachel had seen her go in and lock the bathroom door after her and was a bit puzzled by this as holly had her own en suite.

She decided to wait until she came out

"Hey holly what were you doing in my bathroom"

"What people normally do in the bathroom. Going for a wee"

"But why didn't you use your own?"

Holly sighed realising it would be hard to come up with some excuse

"Your bathroom is the only one with scales in"

"Oh holly you're not fussing about your weight are you? Those problems with your eating you had, they are over aren't they?"

"For gods sake mum, I just wanted to see how much I was, it's not like I'm anorexic" holly sighed

"I'm sorry" Rachel said "I wasn't accusing you..."

"Yeah whatever" holly said rolling her eyes

She was about to go to her room when she decided to ask her mum if she could borrow some money, she hadn't been able to find anything in her mums bathroom and really needed some so she thought she could buy some if she walked to school from the corner shop but she'd used up all her allowance for the month

"Mum can I borrow some money?"

"Why?"

"Because I need to get something?"

"Well were going shopping tomorrow, can't you just get it then"

"No I can't"

Rachel looked puzzled wondering what it was her daughter needed to get so urgently

"Well what is it?"

"Mum I'm literally talking a couple of quid please can you not just lend me it?"

"Well I'm sure I can stretch to giving you that, but why won't you tell me what it is?"

"Because I don't want to" holly said tears forming in her eyes

Rachel quickly went over and put her arm round her

"Hey what's wrong?"

Holly sighed realising she didn't have much choice but to tell her mum

"I came on my period but I don't have anything and I couldn't find any in your bathroom"

"Oh Love, why on earth didn't you just ask me for some? It'd funny actually, I thought it was a bit weird how you've been here about 5 weeks and you hadn't asked me for any pads or tampons so I went and bought you some yesterday I was going to put them in your bathroom but I accidentally just out them in with mine"

"Oh right"

"I'll start putting some in your bathroom, but there just in the bottom draw on my bedside cabinet if ever you run out"

"Okay thanks mum"

"I'll get you some now, what do you use?"

"Tampons" holly said blushing red

Rachel went over and handed her a box, a Holly was about to go but Rachel wanted to talk to her first

"Why didn't you just tell me, rather than thinking you'd need to go all the way to the shop for some?"

"Just because it's embarrassing" holly said

"Oh Holly it's not embarrassing, I have periods too you know" Rachel said smiling

"Yeah I know it's just...just weird talking to you about things like that"

"Well I don't want it to be weird, anything you need or want to talk about, from now on I'm the first person you come to okay?"

"Yeah okay" Holly agreed

Rachel smiled at her and Holly went back up to her room

After she'd sprayed her perfume on herself, Rachel went downstairs and quickly made breakfast up for the two girls.

Once it was ready the two of them came running downstairs and sat at the table

"Mummy please can I bring the chainsaw in the shed to school today for show and tell?" Lexi asked

Hearing her sister say this caused Holly and Thomas to burst out laughing

"No Lexi, that's really not a good idea"

"Why not?"

"Well because chainsaws are very dangerous, mummy would finish up in an awful lot of trouble if I let you bring it to school with you"

"But mummy that's not fair, my teacher says that you can bring anything you like in that you find Interesting and I found the chainsaw very interesting"

"Yes I don't think that quite extends to a chainsaw Lexi" Rachel said "how do you even know about it? You're not allowed in the shed"

"Thomas showed me it yesterday when he was cutting the hedge, he even let me have a go, well he was holding it too which is a bit unfair because I could have holded it all by myself"

"Held not holded" Rachel corrected, she seemed to do this a lot with the girls even though it annoyed them, she guessed she just couldn't help it after being an English teacher for so long "and did he now?"

She looked daggers at Thomas for starting all this

"Erm I'd better be getting off to work" he said "see you later everyone"

He then hastily left the house, leaving Rachel alone with the girls

"Lexi you're not bringing the chainsaw to school, you're going to have to find something else"

"Why not? That's not fair I don't want to find something else" she said sounding stubborn

"Well you're going to have to"

"But why?"

"Because I said so" Rachel said beginning to get a bit fed up with Lexi going in about it

"I'm going to get it now and you can't stop me"

"Yes I can, you are not going outside, now sit down and eat your breakfast or you'll have to go and have a time out" Rachel threatened, she'd tried this with Lexi a few times whenever she'd been naughty and it seemed to work quite well at calming her down.

"No" Lexi said pushing her plate away

"Lexi go and stand outside please" Rachel said calmly

"No"

"Lexi this is your last chance, if you don't go and stand outside now then you won't be able to go and play round your friends house tonight"

Very reluctantly Lexi got up and stood outside. In a way she'd started pushing her mum more and more to see just how much she could get away with.

After 5 minutes Rachel called her back in. When Lexi walked back in though she still didn't look particularly happy and remained stroppy right through to when Rachel dropped her off at school.

"what's up with her?" Rachel sighed

"Oh she can often be a pain like that just ignore her, she'll be fine by tonight" holly said

However it turned out Lexi wasn't fine after all and at 12:30 Rachel got a call asking her to pick Lexi up because she'd got into trouble.

Rachel felt really angry at Lexi, she couldn't understand shy she was behaving like this, she could put up with a bit of misbehaviour and cheek, however she certainly wasn't going to put up with her getting sent home from school.

She drove to the school as quickly as she could to pick Lexi up.

When she was walking up she couldn't help but look round and admire how beautiful it was.

She went into the reception and asked about her daughter

"Oh yes, seems she's caused quite a stir she got sent to mrs Layton's office and I've never seen a child in reception get sent there before"

"Oh god, is she still with her now?"

"Yes she is"

"Can I go through to see them both please"

"Yes of course"

The receptionist let her through before taking her to the head mistresses office

Rachel was impressed when she was taken inside, it was a hell of a lot grander than hers.

"I've got miss mason to see you mrs Layton"

"Thank you Pamela, Miss mason please take a seat"

Rachel took the seat next to her daughter, she looked at her and noticed how completely unfazed she looked by all this and this angered Rachel even more.

"I've been talking to Lexi for the last 15 minutes and she doesn't seem to show any remorse about what's happened. If you ask me she's not the least bit sorry"

"Well nobody was asking you" Lexi said, this was a phrase she'd learnt from conversations between her sister and mum "so you should just shut up"

Rachel gasped hearing her daughter say this, she'd never felt so embarrassed in her life

"Lexi don't you dare speak to Mrs Layton like that, you're in plenty of trouble already young lady and now you've gone and made it a whole lot worse"

Up until this point Lexi hadn't felt scared about seeing her mum, she'd presumed she'd just act like she had done before when she'd been naughty and just tic her off lightly however she could tell in her mums voice how angry she was.

"Lexi I think it'd be a good idea if you went outside and waited while your mum and I talk about today"

Lexi didn't move at first but Rachel turned round to look at her

"You heard mrs Layton Lexi" she said icily

This was enough to make Lexi get up and move outside

"I'm very sorry to call you away from work, as you can tell we've had a few problems, not only has she been disruptive she actually hit another little girl in her class"

"Oh dear" Rachel sighed "look I'm so sorry about all this, she won't get away lightly I can assure you"

"I wanted to call you to discuss Lexi anyway even before the incident today" she said "she's settled in fantastically, she's very popular with all the other girls in her class, but there have been a few instances where she's been very disruptive to the class"

"Really? I had no idea, look like I said I'll be having a serious chat later, she'll be spending the rest of the day in my office and I can assure you it won't be much fun in there for her"

"Well if it teaches her a lesson, I'd say it's well worth it" she said "look I hate to pry, but Is everything okay at home with Lexi, it's just she seems such a sweet little girl at heart, almost as if she doesn't really want to be naughty"

"Well the situation at homes complicated, to tell you the truth I had a very distant relationship with my daughters, they were at a boarding school and I rarely saw them, however it closed about 5 weeks ago due to a spread of meningitis and both my daughters have been living with me ever since, there were issues at first but everything's fine now, she seems so settled now. She can be a bit naughty at home but I though I haven't really reprimanded her, honestly I was glad to see it in a way, I thought it showed how well settled she was, though she's probably trying to test me too see how far she can push"

"There's a strong chance of that and it is possible she's still feeling a bit unsettled and her misbehaving is just a sign of that"

"I suppose so, well whatever it is there's no excuse for today and I'll be making that clear to her when we have our talk"

"Okay, well thanks for coming and again I'm sorry to pull you away from work"

"Honestly it's no problem and I really am sorry about all this"

Rachel then left the office and found Lexi stood outside staring up at the ceiling

Somehow Rachel resisted the urge to start shouting at her right there and then and instead just took Lexi firmly by the hand and led her to the car

"Get in and put your seat belt on" she said firmly, her voice all cold

Lexi didn't dare argue and did as her mum asked

As soon as they closed the car door Rachel began to let her anger out

"How could you behave like that Lexi? I feel absolutely ashamed of you and you don't even seem the least bit sorry" Rachel shouted "Oi look at me when I'm talking to you"

"You're not talking you're shouting" Lexi pointed out with tears pooling her eyes

"Don't you dare try and be cheeky with me young lady, what on earth were you thinking earlier huh?"

Lexi didn't say anything just turned her back and looked out the window

"I told you to look at me when I'm talking to you" Rachel said "now when I ask you a question you answer it, so I'm going to ask you one last time, what were you thinking?"

"I d..don't know, I d..don't remember"Lexi said, feeling all anxious now which was causing her stammer to return

"Well you'll have plenty of time to think about it, your spending the whole day in my office and there won't be any playing or messing round"

Lexi didn't say another word the whole way back and neither did Rachel.

Once they got to waterloo road Rachel took her daughters hand firmly and marched her up to her office

"Right you've got 3 letters to write, the first Is going to be to your teacher telling her how sorry you are, not only for today but for every other time you've been naughty or disruptive in her lesson, the second is going to be to Mrs Layton, telling her how sorry you are for being down right rude and disrespectful and the third is going to be to the poor little girl you hit telling her how sorry you are for being so unkind to her. Have you got that Lexi?"

Lexi didn't say anything as she was feeling too scared, her mum was being even more scary now than when sen first started living with her

"I said, have you got that?"

"Y..yes" Lexi mumbled

"Good, now get on with it"

Lexi sat down at the table and tried to start writing but her hands were shaking and tears kept spilling onto the page

About an hour later Lexi still hadn't managed to write very much. She was also desperate for the toilet but felt too scared to ask her mum

Luckily Rachel looked up from her work and noticed how uncomfortable Lexi looked and how she was jiggling her legs

"Lexi go to the toilet before you have an accident please" Rachel said her voice still sounding cold

"W..will you t..take me?" Lexi asked as she felt far too scared to get up by herself and make her way through the crowds of scary older boys and girls who she'd seen at lunch time

"You're 5 years old and it's just next down the corridor, you're perfectly capable of getting there on your own" Rachel sighed

"Its O..okay I'll j..just w..wait"

"What till we get home? That's another 2 hours away Lexi and you look like you're about to wet your knickers as it is"

Lexi realised this was true and quickly hurried off to the toilets and only just made it.

Rachel felt a bit mean, but she wanted Lexi to realise how much trouble she was in and after all she knew the corridors would be completely dead now that everyone was in afternoon lesson and there was no way teachers would be letting student out so close after lunch and it was literally just down the corridor.

It was only when Lexi was gone that Rachel realised she had been too harsh, the thing was she wasn't used to disciplining 5 year olds only teenagers and had dealt with her daughter the same way she would a teenager which must have been scary for her and wasn't fair really.

Once Lexi had been to the toilet she was too scared to come out and face her mum. Suddenly she felt like she had to be sick and put her head over the toilet.

As she was sick more tears started to fall down her face, she wondered what would happen to her now, obviously her mummy wouldn't want her now she'd been in so much trouble and her school still wasn't open, she began to worry there'd be nowhere for her to go and all this was making her feel very anxious and dizzy.

Rachel had been so busy looking at some student data she'd completely forgotten about Lexi going to the toilet.

15 minutes later Bridget popped her head through the door

"Sorry to disturb you Miss mason"

"That's okay Bridget what can I do for you?"

"It's just I saw your little girl leave your office about 15 minutes ago she looked really upset"

"Oh I'd completely forgotten about her, god what could have happened she was only meant to be going to the loo" Rachel said half to herself "thanks for reminding me, I'm going to go and see her now, maybe she's had a bit of an accident or something, I'd better take my car keys and bag just in case, I'll nip back and tell you if I've got to go home, will you tell mr lawson if I do?"

"Yes of course"

Rachel quickly grabbed her stuff before going to the toilets

As soon as she walked in she could hear Lexi sobbing loudly and at that point she really did realise just how hard she'd been on her

"Lexi open the door" Rachel said

Lexi didn't dare open it, so stayed on the other side

"Lexi there's nobody in here just mummy, look have you had a little accident or something. If you have just come out and We'll drive back home, it's okay"

Lexi still didn't answer just continued to sob, she sounded so upset it was painful for Rachel to listen to and was making her feel close to tears herself

It was only as she edged closer to the toilet door that was locked, that Rachel could smell sick

"Lexi have you been sick?"

"Y..yes" Lexi finally replied

"Sweetheart come out and talk to me" Rachel said beginning to panic

Lexi was still far to scared to, she was crying so much now and had started hyperventilating a bit

"Lexi I'm going to unlock this door" Rachel warned

When Lexi didn't come out Rachel grabbed a penny from in her purse and twisted the lock.

She was shocked and scared when she saw her daughter. She was hyperventilating so much that as soon as she started to walk she fainted

Rachel quickly caught her and broke her fall

"It's okay, mummy's here I've got you, you're all okay" Rachel murmured feeling truly awful about all this

Her forehead was as sweaty as it had been when she was poorly and her face was bright red from crying so much.

Rachel had laid her daughter carefully on the ground as she knew you were supposed to lie someone on the ground if they'd fainted, she even managed to get her into the recovery position

"Lexi, Lexi can you hear me?"

She didn't know if Lexi was pretending not to hear her because she was so scared or if she really couldn't.

"Lexi love, if you can hear me open your eyes" Rachel instructed "I know your frightened but i promise I'm not going to shout or even talk about what's happened till we've got you sorted, it's just if I can't be sure your with me or not I'm going to have to call an ambulance and you don't want that do you Lexi you didn't like it in hospital last time did you love?"

Hearing her mum say she was going to call an ambulance caused Lexi to open her eyes, though she still felt every bit as scared

"Oh it's nice to see them eyes again, you gave me a bit of a scare there" Rachel said trying to act as calmly as she could as she wanted to try and get Lexi calm as well, despite the fact Rachel was feeling really shaken up by everything that has just happened "hey I was alright at playing nurse Rachel though, Thomas would have been impressed, I even managed to get you into the recovery position and I haven't done that with someone for about 20 years"

As soon as she came round some more Lexi began to sob again

"M..mummy to h...h..h..h..." Lexi stammered but she simply couldn't get her words out

"It's alright, don't try and talk just you concentrate on calming yourself down a bit" Rachel said "were you going to ask what's going to happen to you?"

"Y..yes, I d..don't w..want to move a..again" Lexi said still hysterical "d..don't g...get rid of me"

This caused a lump to form in Rachel's throat, Lexi hadn't just been upset about Rachel shouting at her, like Rachel had first thought, she realised now that Lexi still thought she was going to abandon her again and that actually Mrs Layton was right, Lexi hadn't settled half as well as she thought

"Nobody's going to be getting rid of anybody" Rachel said firmly "now I'm going to leave you for 40 seconds max while I get you some water, then we're going to go outside get some fresh air and have a nice long chat okay?"

Lexi nodded her head

"I won't be long I promise, I just want to keep you laid down, that's why I don't want you getting up to come with me"

Rachel practically ran back to her office and got some water from her machine

"Bridget, look Lexi is really upset, she just fainted not 5 minutes ago, I'm going to have to go home and try and comfort her a bit, will you let mr lawson know where I am"

"Of course, I hope she feels better soon" Bridget said "she's such a gorgeous little girl"

"Yes she is" Rachel sighed still feeling terrible about everything

She quickly went back to the toilets and Lexi was sat up now

"Here drink this sweetie" she said offering it to her

Lexi took it and sipped it down

"Good girl" Rachel said before taking the plastic cup and putting it in the bin.

Suddenly the door opened and one of Rachel's students walked in and was taken aback by the scene in front of her

"Sorry Jodie, my daughter isn't feeling well" Rachel explained to the year 11 student

"That's okay miss, I'll go to the toilets in the French block"

"What the ones furthest away from this block in the entire school, so you miss 15 minutes of your lesson" Rachel said raising her eyebrow "unluckily for you I'm not daft, you can use these ones me and Lexi are going now"

"Lexis really cute, Holly talks about her all the time, I sit next to her in maths"

"Oh so is that what you toe spend your maths lessons doing?" Rachel said but Jodie could tell she wasn't really being serious

"Are you really 5 Lexi? You don't look it, I'd have thought you were only just four"

Normally Lexi hated it when people commented on how young she looked for her age, but she didn't mind Jodie saying it

"And is it true you once told a teacher in your last school to piss off, Holly was telling me the over say apparently she's accidentally said it in front of you and you copied her the next day, I'd loved to have been there it'd have been hilarious"

"Jodie do you mind not using inappropriate language in front of my daughter, or me for that matter"

"But she said it miss"

"Jodie are you going to go to the toilet or back to your class?"

"Well I can't go when you're both here can I? I'm pretty sure there's a law against students not sharing toilets with teachers, wouldn't want you arrested or something"

"Jodie watch your tone or you'll find yourself in detention tonight and if you do won't that be your 5th detention in a two week period, so you'll be put on head teacher Intervention, which means come Monday morning you'll have the pleasure of sitting up in my office all day and not being allowed out at break or lunch"

"Okay okay"

"Me and Lexi are leaving now anyway"

"What's wrong with her anyway?"

"Jodie, you can't have needed to leave your classroom that much if you're wanting to sit round having a 20 minute discussion"

"Okay don't get your knickers in a twist"

"Jodie I thought I warned you about your tone about 30 seconds ago, you cant go around saying things like that to teachers it's completely disrespectful, so you can go and see Bridget now for a detention slip and I'll see you in my office Monday morning"

Jodie sighed "yes miss, can't wait"

Rachel picked Lexi up in her arms and carried her out

"Mummy were you really angry at that girl?" Lexi asked "why did you tell her off when she said don't get you knickers in a twist, because you say that to me all the time, is it a bad thing to say?"

"No I wasn't really angry I was just acting, you do a lot of acting when you become a teacher especially a head teacher, you have to pretend your angry about a lot of things even though you aren't really" Rachel explained "and it's not a bad thing to say, just not the type of thing you should be saying to your headmistress"

"Mummy were you as angry with that girl as you were with me?"

"Hmm not quite, though maybe I was doing a bit of acting when I was shouting at you earlier"

"So you weren't annoyed"

"Oh no I was ...am still annoyed but just not as annoyed as I seemed, and certainly not annoyed enough to make you get into such a state" Rachel said "do you feel like you can walk now or do you still feel a bit dizzy?"

"I'm okay"

Rachel gently put her on the ground and took her hand and they began to walk outside

She took her daughter right round the back of the school and then they sat down on one of the benches, it was very quiet round here and Rachel knew they wouldn't get disturbed by anyone.

"I'm sorry for making you upset Lexi" Rachel said "I honestly didn't mean to"

"It's okay"

"No it's not okay, god I felt terrible when I saw you" Rachel said "did you really think I was going to get rid of you because of it?"

Lexi nodded her head

"Oh Lexi" Rachel sighed "the thing is now you're living with me, I want to do my very best to be a good mum and bring you up properly and part of me doing that is teaching you the difference between what's right and what's wrong, so sometimes when you do something that's a bit naughty or whatever I will have to raise my voice, get a bit cross and give you a time out or whatever, not necessarily because I want to but I'm just doing my job and it's not the end of the world. No matter how much trouble you get into or however much I shout at you, it doesn't mean I love you any less and I might stay cross with you for a few hours but then after that I'd have a talk with you, make sure you realise why it'd was wrong and then that's it, all over, forgotten and we wouldn't mention in again. Now I know I was too hard on you earlier and I must have seemed very scary to you and I really am sorry about that, I really didn't intend on frightening you so much"

"It's okay, I'm fine now. I just really didn't want you to make me leave again"

Rachel sighed and put her arm round Lexi "come here you" she said pulling the little girl into her chest

"Lexi you are here to stay you know, Me and Thomas are always going to be there for you" Rachel said "are you still feeling a bit unsettled at the moment?"

Lexi thought for a minute before nodding her head

"And do you think that's maybe why you've been acting up a little bit, maybe your trying to test if I'm bring serious about wanting you to stay with me forever"

Lexi nodded her head again, this was almost exactly how she was feeling at the moment

"Well that's understandable, I think I'd be feeling the same way, but Lexi however much you push I'm never going to say I want you to leave" Rachel said pulling her daughter closer "and I want you to know that anything at all that's upsetting you or that's on your mind, me and Thomas are always here to listen. You've always got someone you can talk to Lexi, I hope you know I'm always here but if you don't want to talk to me there's Thomas or if It's something that for whatever reason you can't tell me or Thomas, maybe because you think you'd get into trouble or it's a big embarrassing them remember you've got a lovely big sister too, who I'm sure would only happily help" Rachel said

Lexi didn't say anything but Rachel could tell that she was starting to feel better because her body felt more relaxed against her

A minute or so later Lexi sat up

"Mummy I need to tell you something"

"Okay, what is it Lexi?"

"It was true what that big girl said, about what I said to that teacher in my last school.

"Oh was it" Rachel said, she was trying to stop herself smiling at the though of a 5 year old girl saying that to a teacher, she could just imagine what the look would be on the teachers face

"I got into really big trouble for it, but then I got really upset so they stopped shouting at me"

"Well I'm not surprised you got into big trouble, don't you dare say that in front of me or I'll be washing your mouth out with soap"

"Ew that would taste disgusting" Lexi said giggling "are you not mad?"

"Lexi I'm hardly going to be mad about something that happened god knows how many months ago when you weren't even living with me and you didn't know even know it was a bad word. I may have seemed it earlier but I'm not completely unreasonable you know"

"I know"

"Now I've got a little bit of work to finish, but then me, you and holly will go straight home. You don't have to stay late in my office" Rachel said thinking she should take a night off work and just focus on the girls

"Really?" Lexi said smiling

"Yeah" Rachel said smiling back "how about we order in a pizza or something and then put a movie on"

"That'd be nice" Lexi said snuggling into her mum

"Though I am going to have to punish you a bit for today you know Lexi, so I'm going to say no going out to play with your friends this weekend and I still want you to write your apology letters"

"Okay" Lexi said sounding a bit upset

"Hey cheer up, means you'll have the pleasure of my company all weekend"

Lexi smiled at this

"Lexi, why did you hit the girl in your class?" Rachel asked gently

"Because we were having this talk about what we can remember about when we were really little, and I told everyone that I used to live in a boarding school and didn't get to see you and then she said that made you a bad mummy so I hit her because you're not a bad mummy"

A lump formed in Rachel's throat when she realised Lexi had hit her in order to defend her.

"Oh Lexi" Rachel sighed "that girl in your class was right, I was a bad mum, a terrible mum in fact but I'm trying my hardest to make up for that"

"Mummy in class today, my teacher said that everyone has a mummy and a daddy, is that true?"

"Yes it is"

"Why does everyone have a daddy?"

"Well because you need a mummy and a daddy to have a baby sweetheart" Rachel explained

"But then how come I was born? I don't have a Daddy do I mummy?" Lexi asked

Rachel didn't know how to answer this, she didn't want Lexi knowing anything about her dad.

"Yes you do Lexi, but he's not a very nice daddy and I think you're better off with just mummy and Thomas for now on okay?"

"Yeah I really like Thomas, he's really funny and he's always kind to me"

"Yes he is, Thomas is often a lot more patient than I am" Rachel said, it was true Thomas really was the most caring man Rachel had ever met "and I know Thomas speaks equally highly of you Lexi"

They stayed out there chatting for a bit before walking back inside, the two of them feeling a lot better than they had previously.

Please review, I really do appreciate them xx


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Thanks for all the reviews. Pauline- I do have another story with an Ivy in so yeah that's why I got confused, normally I proof read but I must have missed it :) I'll try and include some more Rachel/Holly moments in the next few chapters, thanks for your feedback, really appreciate it.

It was a Saturday and Rachel and Thomas were going to take the girls away camping for a night in the Lake District, as it was something they'd never done before and thought it would be a good way to spend some time with both of the girls, Thomas's sister had suggested it as she was going away with her husband and little boy, and had asked if they wanted to join them, initially they'd both been quite reluctant as they'd neither of them had ever been very outdoorsy, however they went along with it and Rachel was looking forward to seeing Thomas's family as she always had got on with them very well

They were all up quite early on he morning trying to get everything sorted. Holly however wasn't looking forward to going away one bit, she would far rather stop at home in the warm

"Mum do I really have to go camping, please can I not just stop at a friends"

"Nope you are part of this family, so you can come to"

"But it's going to be horrible, they'll be no phone signal, my fair will look a mess because I can't straighten it since electricity probably won't have even been invented there, will there even be showers?"

"No you're going to have to just wash yourself in the stream" Rachel said, she was joking obviously however the look on her daughters face told her she'd taken her seriously

"I'm not going then no way, that's like something you'd do in Victorian times, in fact this whole bloody trip is like something from Victorian times"

"Joke holly, yes there's showers"

"I can't imagine you wanting to stay in a tent for the night anyway mum" holly said, her mum was like her in terms of she liked her nice make up and hair stuff and couldn't really see her roughing it

"I'll be fine with it and so will you be"

Holly sighed dramatically but realised there was no way she was going to persuade her mum to let her stay home

"Holly it's only for one night" Rachel reminded her "and lexis really excited, so come on just play the game yeah, don't spoil it for her"

Holly rolled her eyes but went upstairs to bring her bag down as Lexi came running into the kitchen

"Now Lexi it's a long car journey so why don't you take some stuff to occupy you and have you been to the toilet?"

"Yes" Lexi said

"Are you sure? We're only going to make one stop and it's quite far into the journey. Why don't you just try again just in case and don't go gulping the water in the car down"

"Okay I'll try and go"

"Good girl" Rachel said giving her a smile

About 10 minutes later everyone was ready so they all got in the car

"Thomas will you put the radio on" holly asked

"Yeah I suppose so" Thomas said though both he and Rachel wanted a relaxing car journey, at least off the first hour or so and knew they wouldn't get this if they had Holly's music blasting

"No Thomas leave It off for a bit, holly just out your headphones in"

holly rolled her eyes again but did just put her headphones in

The journey seemed to drag considerably and after about an hour Rachel and Lexi were both feeling sick

"Thomas stop the car or I'm going to be sick" Rachel said

Thomas quickly pulled In as soon as he could and Rachel had to quickly get out to be sick

She came back in a few minutes later looking very pale

"Ew mummy you were sick" Lexi said giggling

"Well I've dealt with your sick plenty of times young lady, at least I don't have to get someone else to clean it up" Rachel pointed out

"You feeling any better yet?" Thomas asked

"Yeah I'm fine now, let's just get there"

The rest of the journey seemed to go by quite quickly, without any major incidents

"Mum we must be nearly there now" Holly moaned "how are we meant to survive all night when it smells like this?"

"holly I can't move the campsite any closer to us can I?" Rachel sighed "you're just going to have to get on with it and it just smells of the countryside it's not that bad"

After getting lost quite a few times they eventually made it to the campsite and even Rachel had to admit she was feeling quite anxious about spending the night here as it did look very wet and muddy.

"Right I'll go and sign us in shall i?" Thomas said

"Yeah, I'll wait in the car with the girls"

"Mummy can I get out with Thomas?" Lexi asked

"Yeah if you want to, just made sure you don't fall over and land in all the mud, i only have a couple of changes of clothes for you Lexi"

Lexi and Thomas got out the car and went into the reception leaving Rachel and Holly alone

"Okay Holly, so this weekend might not exactly be your cup of tea, or mine for that matter, but lexis really excited and Thomas has been looking forward to it too and if you're in a mood the whole time. It's going to ruin it for them" Rachel said

"Well how can you expect me to be happy when you drag me out here in the freezing cold in the middle of nowhere"

" hey let me finish, I was going to say I'll make a deal with you"

"What?"

"Well obviously you've not had your allowance have you since that little incident a couple of weeks ago" Rachel said referring to the time when Holly had came in drunk

"Yeah I know, it's a bit unfair I'm absolutely skint and I can't even put any money in for Jess's birthday present"

"Okay so if you behave yourself and that means no complaining, no swearing, and absolutely no cheek towards me or any of Thomas's family then I'll give you £30 tomorrow" Rachel said, she'd never really believed in bribery but couldn't think of anything else that would make sure Holly would behave herself while they were away

"Really" Holly said smiling

"Is that a deal then?"

"Yeah, let's shake on it"

Rachel rolled her eyes, but shook her daughters hand

"I'm serious though, you put one foot out of line deals off"

"Don't worry, I'll be like everyone's dream daughter"

"Yeah you better be if it's costing me that much"

Holly was determined to be on her best behaviour now, especially as she knew there was money involved.

A couple of minutes later Thomas and Lexi returned. Holly couldn't understand how they both looked so happy when it had just started pouring it down with rain.

"Right whose going to volunteer to help me put the tent up?" Thomas asked, aiming it towards Holly and Rachel but he knew neither of them would be keen

"I'm sure Holly will and I'll stay and keep Lexi company" Rachel said flashing Holly a quick smile, which Holly returned with a scowl, she knew her mum would start to use this deal to her full advantage

"Yeah sure" holly sighed

"Really Holly that'd be a great help" he said surprised

The two of them got out the car and started to get it up

"Mummy are we sleeping in the tent tonight?" Lexi asked sounding all excited

"Yes we are"

"Are there beds in there?" Lexi asked "are tents really big on the inside even though they're small on the outside"

"No darling there still quite small on the inside and there's no beds in there, you sleep on air beds and in sleeping bags, which are sort of like blow up beds" Rachel explained

"That sounds like fun"

"Yeah hopefully it will be darling" Rachel said

Rachel saw out the mirror that Thomas's sister Claire and her husband joe had just arrived

"Oh look there's Claire and Joe" Rachel said waving at them

"Mummy who old is josh"

"Well josh will have just turned 5 so he's actually a very similar age to you" Rachel said "should we go and say hello"

Lexi nodded so the two of them got out the car to meet them

"Hiya Rach, hi Lexi" Claire said smiling

Josh immediately came running out the car with his mum

"Mummy can I go and play with Lexi in the stream" he asked, they'd been there before so they knew exactly where everything is

"Yeah if that's okay with you Rach?"

Rachel could see it was quite shallow and she could keep an eye on them from here so agreed to let them go

The two of them walked off together

"Normally I don't play with girls, but I will this holiday" josh said

Lexi had always been a bit boisterous though, so the two of them instantly seemed to get on well together.

"Right now the two of them are playing nicely should we go and get a coffee, leave those lot to get the tent up" Claire suggested "there's a decent little cafe round here actually, it does fantastic bacon sandwiches for breakfast"

"Will those two be okay on there own do you reckon?" Rachel asked feeling a bit uneasy leaving Lexi without an adult

"Oh yeah they'll be fine, I love it round here, it's so nice for the kids to have a bit of freedom. I was thinking we could all go for a walk this afternoon"

"Yeah that'd be nice" Rachel said smiling

The two of them went in the cafe and Claire ordered two coffees

They'd only been in there for a couple of minutes, when suddenly Lexi and josh burst in both drenched and covered in mud and both laughing about it

"Oh bloody hell" Rachel muttered under her breath

"Lexi what did I tell you? I said specifically, not to get filthy because I've only brought a few changes of clothes"

"And I can remember saying the same thing to you Josh" Claire sighed "Right we'll have to abandon the coffees for now Rach, get this pair cleaned up"

"And I don't know why you're laughing about it Lexi, you won't be when you've got no more clothes to wear so you'll have to stay all cold and dirty"

"I wouldn't mind, it was really fun"

Rachel rolled her eyes before going over and taking Lexi firmly by the hand

"Where are the toilets?"

"Just walk down to the end of the campsite and there just to the left" Claire said "come on josh you'll have to come in the ladies ones with me"

"I'm not going in the girls ones, why can't daddy take me?'

Claire sighed but called joe over to take him and she went over and swapped places

"Honestly what are kids like Rach?"

Rachel laughed at this as they walked over to the car and got a change of clothes out of the bag.

"Lexi I'm warning you, you better not get filthy again"

"I won't" Lexi promised

As they started walking Rachel could see it was actually a good 5 minutes walk to the toilets, which were right at the opposite end if the campsite, she sighed already looking forward to getting back to her comfortable home.

"Mummy the toilets are ages away" Lexi said "what if I'm desperate"

"Well then you're going to have to make sure you don't leave it till the last minute aren't you Lexi?"

When they eventually got there Rachel led her straight inside and started getting her changed

"Well come on then, get those things off"

"What if someone walks in?"

"Oh Lexi I don't know why you would think anyone has the slightest interest, now stop being silly and get changed" Rachel sighed

Lexi did as she was told and once Rachel had done her best to clean her up a bit they started walking back

"Now we're going on a walk this afternoon, so we need best behaviour yes?"

"Yeah"

"Good girl"

Eventually they got back to the tent, which was now up and Rachel was surprised to see how big it was on the inside

"Looks like the two of you have done a good job" Rachel said smiling

"Yeah, Holly here has been a great help"

"Oh that's good news then" Rachel said "and look the suns come out for us"

"Better get started on our walk then" Thomas said

They met up with everyone else and started on there walk.

It was actually quite long, however Josh and Lexi were getting on really well together and Holly was being on her best behaviour so she didn't put in a word of complaint.

They were all having quite a nice time, even though they had been dubious and the weather stayed really nice.

They women decided to have showers when they got back while the two men and josh stayed behind to start a BBQ going.

Rachel noticed there was a separate building for a parent with a small child so she decided to take her in that one, as it would be a tight fit trying to get her sorted in just the single cubicals

"Lexi me and you will go in the parent and small child one" Rachel said as they'd be more space in there for them

"I'm not a small child" Lexi said outraged

"I know but you still can't go in by yourself and there's not enough room for both of us In just one" Rachel reasoned

Reluctantly Lexi followed her mum across the grass to the parent and child one.

"Mummy I really like it here" Lexi said "and josh is really funny"

"I'm glad you're having a nice time love" Rachel said

Once she'd given Lexi a quick shower she got her dried off

"We'll have to nip back here later to go to the loo before bed so we'll just out your pyjamas on then, just in case you spill something on them later"

"Okay"

She got Lexi changed back into her clothes before going out

"Right mummy needs to have her shower now, so I'm going to see if any of the others are done so you can walk back with them"

She realised Holly had finished her shower so asked her to take Lexi back while Rachel had a very quick shower herself

She hated not being able to dry and straighten her hair as she thought she looked a real mess when she came out

When they got back they all had a nice BBQ, the little kids were getting really tired by about 9 though so they decided to get them to bed

"Come on Lexi, let's go to the toilets before bed" Rachel said

Lexi followed her mum to the toilets but she was getting really sleepy now

"Go for a wee, then you can do your teeth and get into some pyjamas"

Lexi quickly went to the loo and brushed her teeth before Rachel got her into some pyjamas, she made sure she'd packed her warm ones because she'd imagine it'd get cold on a night time.

"Right then love, let's go back"

Lexi was so tried by now, she didn't protest at all when Rachel put her to bed and she got snuggled into her sleeping bag straight away.

"Night Lexi, love you, I'll come and check on you before you go to bed"

A few hours later and after quite a few bottles of wine the adults decided to go to bed too. Holly had stayed up with them too so followed Rachel and Claire to the shower block.

It was only as she was packing her pyjamas and tooth brush, that Rachel realised she'd only packed her strappy pyjamas that wouldn't keep her warm at all, so she brought her scruffy grey hoody to put over the top, she'd never normally be seen dead in it but it was worth wearing tonight if it would keep her warm.

When Holly saw her mum though she giggled

"What are you laughing at young lady?"

"You" holly said "no make up, hair in a scruffy bun and a hoody, bit different from your suits isn't it mum?"

"Well if it'll stop me freezing to death then it's worth it"

"Maybe I should take a picture, send it round the school"

"Don't you bloody dare, I don't think it'd have quite the same effect next time I was shouting at someone If they'd seen me like this would it? God I do look like some sort of tramp" Rachel said looking in the mirror

Once they were sorted they walked back to the tent and got in

It didn't take them long to fall fast asleep.

Lexi woke at about 2 bursting for the toilet again, however she didn't want to go by herself all the way to the toilet blocks, she tried nudging holly to get her to wake up.

"What do you want Lexi?"

"I need a wee"

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Will you take me to the toilet?"

"There's no way I'm getting out of bed"

Lexi crawled out of bed and walked over to Thomas and Rachel's compartment

"Mummy" Lexi whispered through the little door

Eventually Rachel woke up and poked her head round

"What is it?"

" I really need a wee" Lexi said

Rachel sighed heavily but knew she couldn't let Lexi go on her own do got out of bed and put there shoes on

"Mummy I'm desperate" Lexi said when they were out

"Well can't you just go in the bushes?" Rachel said "having said that I could do with going too, so we'll just go to the loos"

"Can't you go in the bushes?"

Rachel laughed at this "not really Lexi, it's okay when you're 5 not so much when you're 39, I think I'd get into trouble"

Rachel quickly rushed Lexi over to the toilet block and they both went

"Right should we go back then" Rachel said after they'd washed their hands

When they went outside Rachel realised it had started raining while they'd been inside

"We're going to have to make a run for it Lexi, the last thing we need is our pyjamas getting soaked or we'll be freezing cold all night" Rachel said

She took Lexis hand and they ran back but they still managed to get quite wet.

Once they got back to the tent Rachel made sure Lexi got back to sleep okay before getting back in her sleeping bag and going to sleep herself.

The sun shone through to the tent the next morning causing them all to wake up quite early

Lexi woke up and went straight through to her mums compartment for a cuddle

Holly stayed in bed for a bit and got up a bit later than everyone else.

They all stayed at the campsite for a bit before going home in the early afternoon

Although they'd all had a really nice time away together they were all glad to be back home again

Rachel was in the kitchen doing some ironing when holly came In

"Mum you know that little deal we had?"

"Oh yeah I remember"

"Well is it still on"

"Yeah I think you've earned your £30, thanks for being good even if it did take a little bribery" Rachel said

Rachel went into her purse and handed the money over to her

They had quite a relaxing day after that before they all went out for a meal on the night time.

Please review xxxxx


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Just a short update today but next one will be longer :) and Pauline it's fine honestly I didn't even see it as crabby, like I said I appreciate any feedback I get !

It was a Friday and lexis school had a teacher training day so Rachel had taken her to work with her and quite frankly she was driving her absolutely insane. It had proven quite difficult to try and run the school with a hyperactive 5 year old to try and entertain.

"Mummy please can I have another go on your swingy chair?" Lexi asked

"No because if you go in one more time I swear you're going to be sick all over my office and I won't be very happy"

"Can I have some more of my smarties then?"

"I think you've had far too many already young lady" Rachel sighed "I can't believe Thomas gave you a big packet to come to school with, he's a doctor doesn't he know that smarties don't have good effects on 5 year olds" Rachel said "or perhaps he just wanted to torture me" she muttered

"

"Can I play on your phone then?" Lexi asked

"I suppose so" Rachel said, thinking this would be a means if keeping her quietly entertained

Rachel grabbed her handbag and got it out for her.

This did seem to keep Lexi quiet for all of 5 minutes which gave Rachel time to send a few emails out to parents she needed to get in contact with. However Rachel was quickly realising that in future she'd be better off getting a friend or Thomas's parents to look after Lexi, they'd seen both the girls a few times now and seemed to love them and Rachel had always liked his parents.

It didn't help that Rachel was feeling pretty rotten today too, at first she'd just put it down to her period, which always did make her feel rotten but now she wasn't sure it was just that and maybe she was coming down with something.

"Mummy what's your password for the App Store"

"Rachelm87 with a capital r and m" Rachel said automatically, but then realised how stupid it was to give Lexi her password without even asking what she wasted it for "wait Lexi don't type that in, pass me my phone"

Rachel gasped when she saw Lexi was about to make an in app purchase for some coins for £29.99, she quickly cancelled it and made a note to herself to change her password before her daughter could get anything else.

"Lexi that nearly cost me £30!" Rachel exclaimed

"But that's not that much, when we went shopping to Tesco yesterday that cost £100 and that's a lot more than £30" Lexi pointed out in a matter of fact tone

"Yes but that's essential, spending £30 on some imaginary coins so you can play your game however is not essential"

"But now I can't unlock the next level"

"Well you're going to have to play a different game and don't you dare go buying anything or they'll be trouble"

Lexi started playing on a different game and this seemed to entertain her for a while

"Lexi I'm nipping to the toilet, stay here and don't leave" Rachel said grabbing her handbag

"Mummy why are you taking your handbag to the toilet?" Lexi asked curiously

Rachel sighed, her daughter never did seem to miss anything

"Because I just am"

"But why?"

"Because I have my hairbrush in there and I want to use it"

"No you don't, you tried to find your hairbrush in there earlier to do my hair again but you couldn't find it and then you realised you forgot to put it in your bag this morning"

"Lexi, just for once try and just get on with something quietly"

"But I was only asking why you were taking your bag, because you could leave it here and I'll look after it" Lexi said "mummy how long will you be, when you go"

"I don't know I don't time how long it takes for me to go from my office to the toilets and back normally, but I'll tell you what Lexi if it'll make you happy this time I will" Rachel said sarcastically

"But you must know about"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because I need to know when to expect you back"

Rachel burst out laughing at her daughter saying this to her, it sounded like something she'd say to Holly before she went out with friends.

"Darling I'm just quickly nipping to the loo, I'll be 2 minutes max"

When Rachel was on her way back to her office she got sidetracked by a group of year 8 students who were on the back fields instead of in there lessons

She sighed before going out after them

"Excuse me girls would you mind telling me why you're not in your classroom?" She asked sternly

It was only then that she realised that Molly, one of her shy year 8s was in tears"

"Molly is everything alright love?" She asked

"Yeah fine miss"

"Okay girls, get to your lessons, Molly come with me up to my office" she said

"We don't have to do a detention do we miss?"

"No I'll let you off this once, go on all of you scoot"

They didn't need telling twice and they all hurried back to where they were supposed to be

"Come on you, let's go up to my office for a drink and a chat" she said, she knew quite a lot about Molly as she'd had a very rough time of it in year 7 and Rachel had taken her under her wing a bit and it was her that Molly had confided in about all the trouble she was having at home, her mum had severe depression and had been in and out of hospital a lot and her dad had died a few years back. Rachel couldn't begin to imagine how hard all that must be for a 13 year old

Rachel quickly led her upstairs and through to her office. In the midst of everything that had happened she'd completely forgotten Lexi was in her office.

When she walked in she found her spinning round on her chair but she soon stopped when she saw her mum walk in

"Mummy you were ages, you said you'd be 2 minutes but you were at least 9 and a half"

"Yes well I got distracted, anyway what have I told you about swinging on that chair"

"That I'll be sick if I keep swinging on it, do you reckon if I am it'll be all multicoloured with smarties in because I've had so many"

"Don't be so disgusting Lexi, I really don't like to think about it" Rachel sighed "Molly meet my ever so charming daughter Lexi, who is completely hyper because she's done nothing but eat blue smarties all day and swing round on my chair"

Molly was surprised when Rachel said she was her daughter as she didn't know she had children, she didn't even knew about Holly because she was 2 years shoved her, though she'd imagine she'd make a very good mum

"Hi Lexi"

"Hello" Lexi said smiling "why are you all sad? Has my mummy been shouting at you, because she can be scary when she shouts but she told me she's only acting and is never actually cross"

"Lexi that's something I'd prefer you to not share with all my students or how on earth am I going to tell them off and have them take me seriously" Rachel scolded, though she didn't really mind Lexi saying this in front of Molly as she couldn't really imagine ever having to tell her off

"Lexi get off my chair before you break it"

Lexi sighed but came down

"Right Lexi come with me for a second"

Rachel took hold of lexis hand and outside

"Bridget I know in your contract there was nothing mentioned about babysitting duties, but please could you keep an eye on my daughter for a bit"

"I would miss mason but it's my early finish today and I would work late but it's just I've got my family coming over, if you want I could ring them and say ..."

"No don't be silly, you get off and have a nice weekend" Rachel said smiling at her

Rachel knew that both Chris and Grantly had frees now, but decided Chris was her best option so quickly led her across

"Ah is this Lexi?" He said grinning

"It is indeed" Rachel said "actually I was wondering if you could do me a massive favour, it's just I've got molly brown in my office, she's very upset and then I've got to ring a parent about something quite serious, is there any way you could keep an eye on her for me?"

"Of course"

"Thanks I owe you one, be good Lexi and don't touch anything" Rachel said, suddenly the idea of leaving Lexi in a science lab didn't exactly seem like the best one

She rushed back up to her office and found molly

"Molly i am so sorry about that, anyway come on let's sit down" Rachel said "what can I get you to drink, I've hit tea, coffee, water hey my new machine even does hot chocolate"

"Please can I have coffee?"

"Yeah coming up, is it still milk and two sugars?" Rachel said, her and Molly had so many little chats last year she remembered exactly how she took her coffee

"Yes please"

Rachel went over and made up two coffees, one for Molly and one for herself

Once they were ready she walked over to the sofa and put the cup down next to her

"Now do you want to tell me what this all about?"

"Mr Clarkson is going to ring my mum, he said he's worried because I keep skipping lessons and I'm falling really behind on all my work, and I seem constantly distracted, but if I tells my mum it's going to make her so much worse, she says I'm the one thing that keeps her stable and the only person she doesn't have to worry about but if he rings home then it gives her even more to worry about"

Rachel felt sorry for Molly after hearing this, it must be horrible to not be able to share any of your problems at all with your mum, in fear it'll make her worse.

"Oh Molly you've got to understand if a teacher sees something that makes him it her concerned for a child's welfare then they've got to act on that, it's for that child's own well being" Rachel said

"But it'll make my well being a lot worse if mum knows"

"Well obviously your case is an exception, is there no one else he can talk to, an auntie, uncle maybe?"

"No it's just me and mum"

"Well I was going to find you at some point today anyway Molly" Rachel said "I've noticed how many classes you've been skipping and I'm worried"

"I've got a lot on, mum needs me at home"

"But you need to be in school my love" Rachel sighed "okay here's what we're going to do, I'm going to speak to Mr Clarkson tell him I've spoken to you and am confident it's in your best interest that your mum isn't informed, but i want you to work hard at catching up on some work and you know I'm happy to help you catch up if you need it"

"Thanks miss"

"are things...are things really bad at home at the moment?" Rachel asked gently

As soon as Rachel asked this tears formed in Molly's eyes and she nodded her head

"Hey come on it's going to be okay" Rachel said

She reached over and handed her a tissue from her box

"You don't have to tell me about it of you don't want, as long as you know i will listen and try to help if you do want to talk to me about it"

"It's just so hard, all she does is cry, she hasn't even got out of bed and I feel so guilty leaving her and ... " Molly began but she couldn't finish for crying

"Hey come here" Rachel said wrapping her arms around her "everything will work itself out molly I promise"

Rachel knew if Molly kept missing school she'd have to get social services involved, but she didn't think this was a bad idea anyway because Molly did look exhausted

"Don't tell anyone miss"

Rachel sighed, knowing if this went on she was going to have to

"Molly the thing with working with young people is, if I have reason to believe that someone's welfare is being compromised, love I have to do something about it, for your own good no one else's"

"But then they'll take her away and I'll be by myself, miss please don't"

"You wouldn't be by yourself you'd be placed with people who could give you the best support, molly you look absolutely knackered, aren't you ready for a bit of a break"

"Miss please don't tell, I'm begging you" Molly sobbed

"Okay, come on calm down a bit, I won't do anything for now, no one will" Rachel said "I'm going to monitor you very carefully over the next week, and if I still see that you're not in classes, then I'm sorry love but I really am going to have to get social services involved and that's not meant to be a threat, I just want what's best for you"

"I promise I won't skip anymore"

"Good girl" Rachel said

"I can't even remember which class I'm supposed to be in?"

"You don't have to go back up to class yet, stay up here for a bit, finish that coffee off and just have a relax okay?"

"Okay" Molly said "thanks miss"

"That's alright, it's what I'm here for" Rachel said smiling "I've just got a little bit of work to do but shout over if you need anything"

"Are you sure you don't mind me staying up here?"

"Of course not, hey the longer I have you up here the longer Chris..sorry Mr Mead has to look after Lexi for and trust me I am definitely ready for someone else to entertain her for a while, honestly I don't know where that girl gets all her energy from"

Molly stayed up for a while before deciding to go back to class

"Miss I'm okay to go back to class now, thanks for everything"

"That's okay, are you sure you're okay to go back, you know you're welcome to stay up here if you need more time"

"I'll be okay"

"Right, well remember my door is always open soon as you need anyone, in fact is there any ch she you could pop in and see me Wednesday next week sometime, just so we can have another chat and see how you're doing"

"Yeah sure" Molly said smiling

"Okay see you later then, have a good weekend"

"You too miss"

When Molly had gone out Rachel made a few calls to parents she needed to talk to before going to collect Lexi

She walked in and saw her laughing

"Hi mummy" she said smiling

"Hey Lexi, sorry I took so long, Chris has she been behaving herself"

"Yeah she's been great and she's been doing some jobs for me"

"Ah that's good to here, Lexi why don't you come and do the same for me now?"

"Can't I stay here?"

"no because mr Mead has a class to teach and you're a distraction" she said smiling

Lexi sighed but followed her mum up to her office

"Lexi I need to go and photocopy some letters, wait in here I'm just next door"

When Rachel was gone the phone started ringing and before Lexi went to answer it Lexi got there first.

"Hello" Lexi said down the phone

"Can I speak to a mrs mason?"

"No she's next door photocopying but I'm her daughter and I'm a big girl so you can talk to me and I can tell her what you said"

Just at that moment Rachel walked In and saw Lexi on the phone so rushed over and grabbed it out of her hand.

She realised it was actually someone from the LEA and it was quite an important call, she couldn't believe her daughter had answered it

"Lexi that was really important! why did you answer it?"

"I was being helpful"

"You could have got me into real trouble, it's not exactly approved that I should have you up in my office all day when I'm meant to be working" Rachel sighed "I'll tell you what though, you may as well make yourself useful while you're here, I've got lots of things that need sticking up so you can do that for me, here's some blue tac, they need sticking on the black wall okay?"

"Okay" Lexi said

Rachel handed them to her and gave her the blue tac, she knew perfectly well she'd have to redo it herself later on because Lexi would make a mess of it but she needed something to keep her occupied for a bit.

This did keep Lexi occupied for a while and the rest of the afternoon seemed to go by quite quickly and before they knew it, it was the end of the day.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I'm going away tomorrow for a week with friends, so I won't be able to update till I get back, but I promise I'll put a few up when I do get back next Monday. Im putting 2 updates tonight on so it sort of evens it out a bit, so sorry about not being able to update for a week!

It was a Friday night after school and Rachel was trying to get in with some work, however this was proving to be rather difficult. Thomas's sisters little boy josh was round as she'd been down London with work for the day so Rachel had agreed to look after him until she got back.

Luckily him and Lexi seemed to be getting on well, but they were both quite boisterous at times so they were being quite loud, however Rachel didn't really want to go in and spoil their fun.

She was just going through her emails and noticed she had one off Holly's form tutor, telling her she'd not been in her PE lesson period three, this was alongside a few of the other girls in her friendship group

Rachel rolled her eyes, Holly's behaviour had improved a lot over these last few weeks and she really thought she'd turned a corner

"Holly come through here" Rachel called

Holly sighed but came through to her mums study

"What's this about mum?"

"Well I don't know Holly you tell me" Rachel said pointing to the computer screen

Holly quickly read the email, she couldn't believe her form tutor had actually emailed her mum, she thought that by the end of the school day when her mum hadn't been told about it she was safe but obviously not.

"Mum it was only PE it's not like I'm actually ever going to need it"

"I don't care what it was Holly, the fact of the matter is when you're in school you've got places you need to be and you have a responsibility to be in those places, skipping lessons isn't on Holly it really isn't on" Rachel said "and besides I'm sure you're going to need PE, more than you'll ever need some sweets from the corner shop or wherever you went instead"

"We didn't even leave school, we hid in the toilets in the maths block"

"Oh well that makes it all okay then doesn't it?" Rachel said sarcastically "you know I really don't see the logic in that, even if you say PE is useless and all that, I know I'd rather spend an hour putting a half arsed attempt into playing rounders than sitting on the floor of some toilets"

"I hate rounders, you always get those really competitive girls who treat it like they're in the bloody Olympics and throw the ball so hard they nearly break your fingers, a girl in my last school did that to me for real once you know mum"

Rachel couldn't help but smile a bit at this but she tried to hide it

"See even you're smiling mum, you can't really be cross with me for skipping a lesson I'm not even getting a gcse in"

"I am not smiling and I can be cross with you because I don't want you skipping lessons"

"Okay fine, I'll go to my PE lesson next week, though don't blame me if I end up in hospital with all my bones broken"

"It wouldn't surprise me if you end up in hospital from a cardiac arrest after exercising for 1 minute, honestly Holly you hardly ever do any exercise"

"I don't need to"

"Why don't you start coming to the gym with me? Or you could come on my morning run with me"

"Funnily enough I don't fancy hanging round with a load of your friends at the gym and the thought of getting up in the morning in the ran and freezing cold doesn't exactly appeal to me either"

"Okay okay, well just make sure I get no more emails like this" Rachel said "and the lot of you can do detention tomorrow lunch and guess who's on duty?"

Holly groaned at this

"Is it true you made Beth smith in our year write lines yesterday because you saw her spit her chewy out?"

"Did she tell you about that?" Rachel said laughing

"Yeah"

"Yeah I did, it wasn't just for that though it was the cheek she gave me" Rachel said

"Mum you're so bloody weird"

"Why? Lines were what I had to do when I was your age! I remember my maths teacher getting me to fill ten sides saying, I will not be disrespectful to members of staff or talk while a member of staff is trying to conduct a lesson"

"Ten sides!"

"Yeah so don't think you've got it too bad for one second"

Holly walked off and walked back to her room so Rachel got on with some work and then started to make tea, she just made some pizzas as she knew everyone would like this

A little while later it was ready so she shouted everyone down.

Lexi and Josh came running straight away and sat at the table and holly came down a minute or so later.

She sat at the table but Rachel saw she still had her phone in her hand

"Holly put that away at the table, you know the rules" she said sharply "though I really should be confiscating it all together after today"

"What happened today mummy?" Lexi asked

"Nothing for you to worry about"

"Why do you never tell me anything mummy, it's not fair" Lexi said

"I do tell you things, just not things that have got nothing to do with you now get that pizza eaten" Rachel said

Lexi had been really bad with her eating over these last few weeks and would hardly touch a lot of the meals Rachel and Thomas made for her

"Lexi eat it" Rachel said sharply when she saw her picking at it still "look josh has eaten all his"

"I don't care, I don't want it" Lexi said pushing her plate away

"Lexi you've barely touched it and you barely touched your packed lunch I made you either, mrs jones has been keeping an eye on you at lunch"

"You can't make me eat it" Lexi challenged

"Lexi it's for your own good you eat, surely a clever girl like you must realise that" Rachel sighed

Lexi kept arguing with Rachel though, so I'm the end she sent her outside.

"Sorry about that josh, honestly that girl can be a real pain at times"

"It's okay I like Lexi she's funny"

Rachel smiled at him, he really was a nice boy, she'd seen a lot of him since she met Thomas.

Suddenly Rachel's phone beeped so she picked it up and realised she had a text of Josh's mum saying she'd be back soon

"Rachel put that away at the table, you know the rules" Holly said in a voice that sounded almost scarily like her mums.

Rachel and josh both started laughing at this

"I was texting Josh's mum, not on Instagram" Rachel said "how do you work Instagram anyway, is it like Facebook?"

"Mum if you're even having the slightest thought about getting Instagram please forget it right now" holly said "you wouldn't know how to work it so then you'd just get me to do it and you'd post the most embarrassing things ever"

"I wasn't even thinking of getting it, I was just asking"

"Good"

They all finished their tea off and then Rachel cleared the plates away, it was only then she realised she'd forgot to bring Lexi back in

"Lexi come in here" she called

Lexi came in and sat at the table

"Sorry mummy" she said

"Are you going to finish your tea off?"

Lexi nodded her head, Rachel was surprised to see that she actually finished it all off

"Oh well done Lexi" Rachel said smiling "see you can eat it all when you want to and I bet you'll feel so much better for it"

"Can I have some chocolate now?"

Rachel went in the cupboard and found some fudge bars so gave one to Lexi

"Take one up to josh too and don't you dare eat it on the way"

"Where's josh?"

"Upstairs in your room"

"Whys he up there? No one can go in there except me" Lexi said suddenly sounding upset

"We'll go up and see him then"

"But why did you let him up?"

" I'm sorry love" Rachel said as she could understand why Lexi wouldn't want someone else on her room without her being there, it was meant to be her private space after all

Lexi quickly ran upstairs and her and josh played together for a while longer.

While they were upstairs though Rachel got a call of lexis teacher asking if she was okay apparently they'd been a bit of an upset at school today.

This was the first Rachel had heard about it however so she said she'd talk to Lexi about it later

Rachel was a bit concerned as normally Lexi would tell her if something had happened at school, but she hadn't seemed overly upset or anything earlier. She decided to leave it until josh had gone and talk to her later.

Josh's mum finished up running a bit late and didn't pick him up till about 7:30, on a normal school day Rachel would be getting Lexi to bed by this time.

"Lexi let's get your Bath done"

Once Rachel had given her a bath and got her into her pyjamas her and Lexi went downstairs

"Would you like some hot milk before bed?"

Lexi nodded her head, she always liked having this on a night time because it mad her feel all relaxed before she went to sleep.

Once Rachel had got her milk sorted she took Lexi into the back room and sat her down on her knee while she had her milk.

Thomas was back from work so he came in too

"Hiya Lexi" he said

"Thomas my friend Ellie broke her arm on Friday, did you see her?"

"I can't remember seeing any girls called Ellie with a broken arm on Friday no Lexi" Thomas said laughing

"Anyway mrs it's last your bed time, say night night"

"Night Thomas" Lexi said going over and kissing him on the cheek, before going upstairs with her mum.

Once Lexi had got herself sorted for bed Rachel sat on the bed next to her

"Lexi love did something happen at school today?" Rachel asked gently

"No"

"Nothing you want to tell me about?"

"No"

"Well it's just I had your teacher on the phone to me earlier she tells me there's been some sort of an upset"

"I'm okay" Lexi said but tears started to form in her eyes

"Hey what's the matter sweetheart? Come on you can tell mum what's happened can't you, I'm not going to be cross I promise".

"I just got upset because I couldn't do the work, but I'm okay now" Lexi said, she hadn't really wanted her mum knowing because she didn't want a big fuss even though she had been upset at the time she really was fine now

"Oh love that's okay, it's alright to struggle sometimes and you don't need to get upset when you do, you've just got to ask for some help" Rachel said "are you sure you're okay now?"

"Yeah I'm fine"

"Alright I won't go on then, just make sure if ever you are upset about anything you tell me about it yeah, nothing worse than being all worried on your own"

"I will do"

"Night then my love, get a good nights sleep"

"Night mummy, love you"

"Love you too" Rachel said kissing her in the forehead "sleep well"

She then walked out and flicked Lexi's light off for her

Lexi fell asleep straight away as she was really tired by now

Rachel went down and had a glass of wine with Thomas while they watched the tv

Lexi had been trying to get to sleep for ages but couldn't seem to, so in the end she went downstairs

"Lexi why aren't you in bed?" Rachel asked

"I can't sleep" Lexi replied getting all teary all of a sudden

Rachel sighed and went over before picking her up and sitting back down on the sofa with her

"Now why can't you sleep?" She asked

"I don't know, I keep trying but I just can't"

"It is horrible when that happens isn't it? I'll tell you what, you stop down here with us for a few minutes and then I'll take you back up" Rachel said

Rachel noticed that Lexi did seem a bit unsettled and fidgety but she couldn't really understand why. She wondered if maybe she had been lying when she said she wasn't upset about school but she really had seemed fine

"Lexi how about we get you tucked back in" Rachel said

"Okay"

Lexi followed her mum back into her room and got back into bed

"Lexi are you sure you're alright love?"

Lexi just nodded her head in response and closed her eyes

"Should I stay with you until you go to sleep?"

"Yes please"

Rachel got into bed next to her and it didn't take long for Lexi to go to sleep

Despite the late night she'd had before Rachel finished up getting up quite early, Thomas was still fast asleep and she presumed the girls would be too.

Rachel went downstairs and made herself a cup of coffee

She noticed Holly's bag was by the front door so picked it up as she was going to put it back upstairs for her.

Rachel hadn't intended to look inside as the last thing she wanted was to nosey around her daughters stuff, but she saw a box of tablets out of the corner of the eye and curiosity got the better of her so she picked them up.

She realised when she looked at them that Holly must be taking the pill, Rachel had no idea about this however and she immediately started to worry about just what her daughter was getting up to.

Although Rachel was trying to remain calm it was proving hard for her to resist the temptation to go and confront her about it right now

In the end Rachel went upstairs and into Holly's room to wake her up

"Mum what are you doing? It's only 7:30 and it's a Saturday" holly said pulling the covers back over herself

"We need to talk holly" Rachel said "now I want you to answer me honestly"

"Bloody hell mum what's this about" holly said siting up in bed

"Have you been taking the pill"

"What pill?"

"You know fine well which pill I'm talking about young lady" Rachel said the anger building in her voice

"Yes" Holly mumbled

"You're 15 years old, what the hell do you need to be in the bloody pill for?" Rachel Said in disbelief

"I don't believe this Holly, you shouldn't be sleeping round at your age, or any age for that matter"

"What like you didn't"

"Don't you dare bring me into this"

"But it's hypocritical to be going in at me after what you did" holly said

"I'm not talking about me, now why are you on the pill?"

"For gods sake mum how do you even know about it?"

"It doesn't matter how I know about it, the point is I do, so I think you and I need to have a little chat don't you?" Rachel said icily

"Well it's got nothing to do with you what I do, you haven't been there have you?"

"It's got everything to do with me, I'm your mother and you're under my care and having sex is illegal at your age"

"What like anyone actually cares what the law says"

"Holly you're still a child" Rachel said "god I don't believe this"

Holly looked at her mum for a moment or so

"I might have known you'd jump to conclusions" holly said "do you want to know why I'm on the pill mum? It's for my periods, I used to get terrible period pains which of course you wouldn't know about and the pill helps, that's why I'm on it oh and because it clears your skin up too. I'm a virgin mum I haven't even come close to having sex"

"Oh holly I'm sorry" Rachel sighed "I shouldn't have just presumed, it's just when I saw it in your bag I just thought...you know, look I really am sorry"

Holly sighed but realised she couldn't exactly blame her mum

"It's fine" holly said "honestly though mum I've never even done anything with a boy yet"

"Well good on you, there's plenty of time for all that in a few years down the line"

"Mum how did you find out?"

"I accidentally stumbled across them in your bag, honestly though it was an accident"

"Oh right"

"I am sorry for accusing you sweetie, I was just worried when I saw that's all"

"It's fine, I'm sorry I haven't told you about it before"

"Holly why haven't you just told me about it before"

"I don't know, I just didn't know how to tell you" holly said "you're not mad are you mum"

"No love I'm not mad, I was on the pill about a year ago for the same reason, I'd have just liked to have known about it that's all" Rachel said

"I'm sorry"

"It's fine Holly, at least I know now so I don't have to worry"

Holly decided to get up as she didn't feel like she could go back to sleep now and she went downstairs with Rachel to help her make the breakfast

Please review xxxxxx


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Just in case anybody missed it, I've updated two chapters tonight so they'll be one before this for you to read too if you'd like to :)

It was a Thursday and after the usual morning chaos they all got in the car. Rachel dropped Lexi off first and then her and Holly drove up to school.

Holly and Rachel had, had quite a big falling out yesterday when Rachel had caught her and some friends smoking in school. Rachel had though her daughter had quit for good so she'd been really disappointed when she found them all especially given the fact they should have all been in lessons at the time. Things between the two of them had stayed frosty all last night and Rachel had asked to speak to all of them up in her office first thing.

Neither Holly or Rachel said a word to each other for the whole way there.

"Right let's go up to my office then" Rachel said

Holly rolled her eyes but followed her mum up, when Rachel got there she was surprised to see all 4 of the other girls already up there

"Thanks for getting here on time girls, it's the one thing working in your favour at the moment, now come on all of you let's go through"

They all went through to Rachel's office and Rachel took a seat behind her desk while the 5 of them stood

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you how disappointed I am in all of you, you're all bright girls you know better than to smoke when you should be in lessons" Rachel said "but it stops right now, since you clearly can't be trusted not to bring cigarettes into school you'll all have your bag searched each morning by your form tutors till we know we can trust you, though we'll start it in here now, so I want all of you to open your bags out"

Reluctantly all the girls did as Rachel asked but holly just stood there with her arms folded

"Holly" Rachel said firmly

"You're not searching my bag, it's an incision of our privacy"

"Well if you had not broken the rules I wouldn't have to, now open your bag up"

"Mum I'm not opening my bag"

"It's mrs mason when we're in school"

"Okay I'm not opening my bag mrs mason"

"Well then you'll have to do an isolation in here for the day"

"This is fucking ridiculous" holly muttered but she wasn't quiet enough for Rachel not to hear

"And if I hear language like that again you'll be getting far worse than that"

Holly sighed but opened her bag out like the rest of them

Rachel carefully looked through all their bags but didn't find anything

"Right, you all have two weeks half hour lunch detention for this, now go on the lot of you back to class and if I see any of you in this office again they'll be trouble" Rachel said "holly stay behind please"

Holly waited behind her mums desk while the others went out

"Don't you dare, ever challenge me again like that at school" Rachel said

"Okay mrs mason" holly said sarcastically

"And you can loose the attitude to young lady, I don't know where on earth this has come from all of a sudden but you can loose it with me right now young lady" Rachel said

Suddenly tears started to form in Holly's eyes, she didn't know why and she felt embarrassed by it so she quickly brushed them away but they didn't go unnoticed by Rachel

"Is erm..is everything okay at school?" Rachel asked, her voice still sounded quite cold but not as harsh as it had before

Holly just nodded her head

"Right we'll make sure you see to it there isn't a repeat of yesterday and I want to see you at lunchtime in detention, is that clear?"

"Crystal"

"That's all you can go to your lesson now" Rachel said

Holly walked off and went to her French lesson, but Rachel was quite worried about her as she didn't seem herself.

Her thoughts about her daughter were interrupted however when she saw Molly Johnson walking outside, about 20 minutes after the bell had gone and she looked like she'd been crying.

Rachel quickly grabbed her coat and went outside to catch up with her, however she'd already gone. Luckily Rachel had her car keys in her coat pocket so got in her car and it didn't take long at all for her to catch up with Molly.

She wound her window down and stopped the car

"Molly get in the car please" Rachel said

"No miss I need to go home"

"Get in the car molly, then we can talk about it"

Reluctantly Molly got in the car beside Rachel

"Let's go back to school, we'll talk about it there" Rachel sighed

Molly didn't dare argue so just let Rachel drive her back to school and then followed her to her office

"Right Molly what's going on and don't you dare tell me nothing, you've been late every day this week, you've had to go home because you've been "Ill" twice"

"I'm fine miss"

"Molly of you don't talk to me, I'm going to have to call social services because I'm getting worried about your welfare" Rachel said, but Rachel knew she was probably going to have to do this anyway as she was getting very concerned about Molly now and felt if she didn't contact someone soon she wouldn't be doing her Job very well at all

"Miss there's nothing" Molly said but a tear rolled down her cheek she lifted her arm to brush it away and her blouse came up, causing Rachel to see her bruised skin

Molly tried to hide it but Rachel got her arm and lifted her sleeve up

She gasped when she saw her bruised it was

"Molly where did these bruises come from?" Rachel asked

Molly suddenly broke down in floods of tears and once they started she couldn't get them to stop

"Oh Molly" Rachel whispered running her hands through her hair "who's done this to you?"

"Mum, but it's not her fault ...it's just her illness it makes her angry sometimes" Molly sobbed

"I know how Ill she is Molly, but love she can't hit you"

"You're not going to tell anyone are you miss?" Molly sobbed "miss please don't tell"

"Sweetheart I have to I'm afraid" Rachel sighed "I'd be doing a pretty crap job of being your head teacher if I knew about this and didn't tell anybody"

"But they'll take her off me, she needs me miss" she sobbed

"Look I'm but I can't not tell anyone but besides from that you're a 12 year old child if shouldn't be your responsibility to look after your mum, I'm really not trying to make things hard for you"

"But I have no where to go" Molly sobbed

Just at that moment the phone rang and Rachel went to pick it up

"Hello"

"Can I speak to a miss mason please?"

"Speaking" Rachel said

"Oh right I'm DI williams, I need to talk to you about the mother of one of your pupils"

"Yes" Rachel said sounding worried

"Molly Jameson"

"She's in my office now as it happens"

"Her mums been found dead at her home, it's too early to tell for definite but it looks like it was suicide"

"Oh god" Rachel whispered "thanks for informing me, I'll speak to her now"

"Would it be possible to come down and talk to her later on?"

"Yes that should be fine"

Rachel quickly hung up and turned to face Molly, she had no idea how she was going to handle this one

"Molly it's your mum" Rachel said

Molly could tell in her voice there was something seriously wrong and panic flooded through her

"She was found dead this morning" Rachel said "I'm so sorry my love"

Molly was too shocked to even cry, though tears were running down Rachel's cheeks

"I should have known, she was in such a bad state this morning, I should have left her" Molly said

"Molly don't think like that" Rachel whispered "you can't go saying things like that, none of this is your fault I promise you"

Molly stayed in Rachel's office for the rest of the day. Rachel managed to calm her down a bit but understandably she was incredibly shaken up and upset

"Molly I've just been speaking to social services, they've managed to get in touch with your auntie and..."

"No miss I can't live with her...please don't make me" Molly cried "she hated us"

"Okay, okay nobody's going to make you do anything" Rachel said "look is there anyone you could stay with?"

Molly shook her head as tears rolled down her cheek

Rachel thought for a minute before saying "how about you come and stay with me for a bit then, just until proper arrangements can be made"

"Really?" Molly asked "you'd let me come and stay with you"

"Would you be okay with that Molly?"

Molly nodded her head in response

"Right well I'll get onto social services again, see what the procedure with things like this are check it's allowed"

Once Rachel had spoken to social services she sat back down with Molly

"They said that's fine love, I've just got to sign some paperwork first thing tomorrow and I've given my husband Thomas a ring too and he's absolutely fine about it, he's looking forward to meeting you "

"Thank you so much miss"

"That's okay Molly, it's the least I can do under the circumstances" Rachel said "I do understand how upsetting this all is for you and you just take as much time as you need, my house is quite lively with Lexi and Holly but just tell me if it gets too much and you need some quiet"

"Will Holly and Lexi mind me staying there"

"No of course not, I'm sure they'll be glad to have some more company" Rachel said smiling "look I'll go and fetch Holly now and we'll head off back, though I need to get Lexi from school too"

Rachel knew Holly had english last so wasted outside her classroom till the bell and quickly caught up with her

"Hey holly, come back to the car with me" Rachel said

Holly was a bit confused as to why Molly was with Rachel, but didn't say anything

"Holly I'm sure you know Molly from year 8 don't you"

"Yeah"

"Well Molly got some really sad news this morning, her mums passed away"

"Oh god I'm really sorry" holly said to Molly, she didn't know her that well but she'd always seemed really nice whenever she'd bumped into her

"Molly's going to be staying with us for a bit"

"Oh that'll be nice" holly said smiling at Molly.

Although Holly was by no means perfect, she really was a nice girl at hear and Rachel was sure she'd make Molly feel welcome.

"Yes it will" Rachel said "now we've just got to go and get Lexi, you've seen her before haven't you? She was in my office causing havoc do you remember?"

"Oh yeah" Molly said giving a weak smile

Rachel drove round to Lexis school and saw her in tears sat on the bench

Rachel sighed, with Molly and everything this really wasn't what she needed today

She quickly rushed over to her

"Hey sorry I'm a bit late darling, what's happened"

"I got into trouble"

"Oh dear, what did you get into trouble for Lexi?"

"Talking in class, and my teacher said she was going to tell you"

"Oh yeah I saw I had an email from her, but I didn't get chance to check it. Is that what it was about Lexi?"

Lexi nodded her head in response

"Well just make sure it doesn't happen again, you're in school to learn not to chat" Rachel said

"It won't happen again I promise" Lexi said

"Well I'm glad about that" Rachel said "now dry those tears, because we've got something important to talk about"

Rachel passed Lexi a tissue and she quickly mopped her face up as best as she could

"Lexi you know how I'm a head teacher? Well part of my job is to look after children who are feeling upset and I had a girl in my office who was very upset because she found out her mum had died" Rachel explained "now I've agreed that she can come and live with us for a bit, if that's okay with you?"

"Yeah I'd like that" Lexi said

"Good, can you remember when you first came to live with me and everything seemed very scary and strange, that's how Molly will be feeling now and on too of that she's had some horrible news today, so just be as nice as you can be and try and understand if she's a bit quiet at times okay?"

"Okay" Lexi said

The two of them walked back to the car and Lexi got in the back beside Molly

"Hi Molly I'm Lexi"

"Hi Lexi" Molly said smiling at her

"Will you play with me when we get home?"

"Yeah sure"

"Thanks, nobody else does, mummy always says she will but then she finishes up working and Holly's too mean to play with me, Thomas does sometimes, but he's normally working too"

"Lexi you make it sound like you get no attention at all" Rachel said "honestly Molly you'll soon work out she's not so badly done to, she more or less takes over the entire house, if Lexi doesn't want to do something we won't do it, if Lexi does want to do something we have to drop everything, if Lexi doesn't want to eat something it means nobody can, it's like being a personal chef to her"

"But mummy I'm the youngest" Lexi pointed out

"Yes that doesn't mean the whole world should revolve around you mrs"

Rachel stopped off at Molly's house first to pick up some of her stuff. It really wasn't very pleasant in there and Rachel felt so sorry for Molly having to live in here all her life. She was glad to get out and back to her car, so she could drive home

When they pulled up on the drive holly and Molly both got out

"Lexi out" Rachel said

"I want a carry"

"Your 5 years old, not 5 months come on you're perfectly capable of walking across the path" Rachel said

"But I've taken my shoes off"

Rachel sighed but she knew that lexis shoes were a pain to get on because of the buckle on them so she lifted her out and carried her to the front door

"You're house is so nice" Molly said when they were inside

"Thankyou" Rachel Said smiling "Holly why don't you show Molly round a bit"

Rachel would have shown Molly round herself but she wanted the two girls to get to know each other a bit better as this was the only way Molly would start to feel more relaxed

"Yeah sure"

Holly showed her all downstairs and led her up the stairs

"You'll soon get used to it here" she said "my mum isn't half as scary as she seems at school"

"She's always been really nice to me"

"Well if she does have a go about anything, just nod and hold your head down and pretend like you care, honestly she'll get over it in 10 minutes" holly said "she's quite easy to talk to about most things though, but if there's anything you don't want to tell her, just come to me"

Molly was already starting to feel a bit more relaxed as Holly seemed lovely

"There's a few spare rooms left, there's the one on the top floor next to mine, but it's tiny and quite boring or there's the one next to lexis room which is really nice, and then there's another two on this floor too, ones got an en suite but it's quite a boring room and the other ones well done up but I think mum likes to use that one as the proper guest room when we've got people staying over you know like to visit, so you're probably best off in the one next to Lexi's, she'll probably come into your room loads though through the night when she finds out there's someone next to her"

Holly led Molly in and Molly was surprised when she saw how big and pretty it was.

"It could do with livening up a bit but just ask my mum and I'm sure she'll let you redecorate a bit"

"It's really nice"

"Yeah I suppose it is, do you want a hand unpacking?"

"Oh..yes please"

Holly smiled at her before going over to her stuff and helping her unpack, she was surprised by how little stuff she had, but didn't comment on it knowing it would embarrass her.

Once they'd finished unpacking holly decided to leave her to it for a bit, figuring she'd probably want a little bit of time on her own.

Holly went down and found Rachel making tea

"Do you need a hand mum?"

"Oh it'd be fantastic if you could love" Rachel said "can you chop these onions up for me?"

"Sure"

Holly stood next to her mum and put an apron on

"So school alright today huh?"

"Yeah it was fine, mum I'm really sorry about being so cheeky to you this morning and for what happened yesterday"

In the midst of everything that had happened today with Molly, Rachel had almost entirely forgotten about the trouble she'd had this morning with her eldest daughter

"Alright love, I say we just forget it, though I expect to see you at those detentions"

"I'll be there" holly promised

"Good girl, now get chopping that onion" Rachel said "how did Molly seem, did she settle in okay?"

"Yeah, but she's really upset obviously"

Rachel was about to reply when suddenly her phone went off, so she went to answer it. She stepped outside and came back in a couple of minutes later

"Who was that?"

"Thomas, he's got to work late" Rachel sighed "honestly this is one night I really would have liked him here"

"Well we'll be fine won't we? What times he working till?"

"Yeah of course we will and I'm not sure to be honest he didn't really say, I'd imagine it will be really late though, honestly there are times when I wish we both had normal jobs"

"But then you couldn't afford all the nice stuff you buy"

"True, but money isn't everything is it?"

"Yeah but it does help"

"I suppose you're not wrong there" Rachel said smiling "so Molly seemed alright then?"

"Yeah she was fine mum, she's quite quiet but I suppose anyone would be coming to live with their head teacher and all her family must be a bit weird for anyone"

"I know but we do know each other pretty well, so it's not like I'm a stranger to her"

"She must be so upset though"

"I know, I can't even imagine what she just be going through at the moment" Rachel said

They continued to chat for a bit while they made the diner but Rachel suddenly realised how quiet the house seemed and realised she hadn't heard a peep from Lexi for ages

"Holly where's Lexi?"

"In the living room watching tv last time I saw her why?"

"She seems too quiet I'm going to go and check on her"

However almost as soon as Rachel had left the kitchen there was a knock on the door

Rachel quickly went over to answer it and saw it was lexis friend Chloe's mum with Lexi

"Hiya Rachel, sorry to bother you it's just lexis obviously been playing round but we're going shopping now and I wanted to walk her home, I know we only live a street down but that road can be busy at times"

"What she's been round your house" Rachel said in shock

"Did you not know?"

"No I had no idea, Lexi what were you thinking you can't just wander off and not tell me where you are going" Rachel said, she was really shocked by this as Lexi had never done anything like this before and couldn't understand why she'd just walk off without asking her first

"Oh god I'm sorry, I'd have rang you straight away if I knew she hadn't told you"

"Oh don't be daft it's hardly your fault, Thanks so much for bringing her back"

Rachel quickly said goodbye before getting Lexi inside

"Lexi you know better than that, what are you playing at?"

Hearing her mum shout at her instantly brought tears to Lexis eyes, she hadn't really done it on purpose she'd just wanted to go to her friends sen forgot to say.

"Oh Lexi don't cry" Rachel said "did you just forget to tell me you were going to go and play"

Lexi nodded her head

"Right well in future you make sure you come and tell me or I'm going to get worried"

"I will I promise"

"Good girl, now go on stay out of trouble till tea time"

"What, I don't even have to do a time out or anything?" Lexi asked, surprised her mum had let her off so lightly

"I don't think that's necessarily do you?"

Lexi shook her head in response before going off to play, Rachel shook her head and smiled at her as she went off

Once the tea was ready she shouted everyone down.

When Molly came down Rachel saw the red rings round her eyes so could tell straight away she'd been crying, she decided not to comment however as she knew it would only embarrass her

Molly suddenly started to feel really uncomfortable here as she almost felt like she was invading, although everyone had been so welcoming she couldn't help but feel like she didn't belong here

She started eating her food but she couldn't seem to swallow it properly and she was feeling really sick, suddenly she felt tears forming in her eyes which Rachel didn't miss, she could tell it wasn't right to have her sat down here with all of them when she was feeling so upset

"Molly, how about you leave that for now and see if you feel up to eating later hmm"

Molly was about to say something in response but suddenly felt really sick, she didn't want to go to the downstairs bathroom so rushed up as quickly as she could

"Oh dear" Rachel said quietly "you two finish your tea I'm going to go and check on her

Rachel got up from the table and ran up after Molly.

She found her in the bathroom being sick so she immediately went over and pulled her hair back

When she'd finished Rachel pulled the chain for her and helped her to her feet

"I take it the risotto didn't go down too well" Rachel joked

Molly gave a weak smile, feeling embarrassed about being sick

"Sorry" Molly mumbled

"That's alright Molly you don't need to be sorry" Rachel said "I know when things like this happen eating is the last thing on your mind and it make take a couple of days before you start to feel up to eating again, do you want to go to your room for a bit for a lie down"

"Yes please"

"I'll finish my tea off, then I'll need to do Lexi's bath, but then I'll run one for you too, if you'd like that is?"

"Yes please miss"

"Okay then and it's Rachel when we're not at school okay?"

"Okay" Molly said giving her a smile "thank you"

"It's no problem love and if you fancy coming down I'll probably be up doing Lexi's bath but Holly will be I'm the living room"

Rachel then went back downstairs to finish her tea off before going up with Lexi for her bath.

"Mummy is Molly going to be staying here forever?"

"I don't know darling, we'll have to see how things work out won't we? How would you feel if she did?"

"I'd really like it, she seems nice"

Rachel smiled, she knew Lexi would go along with whatever. She had been thinking of asking Molly if she'd like to make this permanent but obviously it was a huge decision that she and Thomas would need to have a good discussion about first

"Mummy do you think you'll have any more babies so I could be a big sister?" Lexi asked

"I don't know love, I'm not planning on it anytime soon"

"So do you just decide when you want to have a baby and then it appears instantly?"

"Well not quite Lexi, but you can normally decide when you think might be a good time to have a baby"

"How does the baby get there?"

Rachel sighed, Lexi often was very inquisitive about things and often Rachel didn't really know how to answer her questions in a way that was appropriate for a 5 year old

"Well mummy has lots of little eggs and these can grow into a baby"

"Oh right" Lexi said, luckily for Rachel this seemed to satisfy her and she didn't ask anymore questions

"Mummy my tummy hurts"

"Really when did that start?"

"Not that long ago"

"That's a bit strange, it can't have been the tea because then everyone would be feeling poorly, just have a relax for a bit and see how it goes, if it gets worse or doesn't to away tell me and I'll get you some medicine"

Once Rachel had bathed her she got Lexi into some pyjamas and Lexi went down for a bit while Rachel ran a bath for Molly.

Rachel went into Molly's room and found here asleep on her bed so she went over to her and gently shook her awake

"Hey sorry to wake you, it's just your baths ready"

"Oh thanks miss"

"That's okay and Molly it's Rachel"

While Molly went for her bath,Rachel went downstairs as she was going to take Lexi up to bed.

When she got down she saw her on the sofa cuddled up next to Holly

"Mum I don't think she's feeling well, she keeps saying how her stomach hurts"

"Oh dear, maybe it's just because you're tired Lexi, it might feel better in the morning, I'll give you some calpol though" Rachel said

She took Lexi through to the kitchen for some calpol before going upstairs with her

"It's not that you need to go to the toilet is it? Because sometimes that can give you a bad tummy"

"No I don't have to go"

"Right well brush your teeth then and then I'll tuck you in"

Once Lexi had been to the bathroom she went back into her bedroom.

"Mummy I don't want to sleep on my own" Lexi said

"Why not Lexi? You've slept in your own every other night, besides when you were poorly"

"I just don't want to, I want to stay with you?" Lexi said

It was then that Rachel began to think maybe Lexi wasn't telling the truth about her stomach

"Lexi is there something on your mind love? Maybe something you want to have a chat about?"

Lexi shook her head firmly

"Mummy I just don't want to sleep on my own" Lexi said starting to cry

"But why bit Lexi?"

"I just don't want to"

Rachel sighed not really knowing what to do

"Well how about I stay with you till you go to sleep and then if you wake up you can come in with me" Rachel suggested

"Okay"

Rachel got in next to Lexi and stayed up with her until she fell asleep, she was getting a bit worried though as this was unlike Lexi

She went downstairs though and watched some tv with Holly

A couple of hours later Molly went up to bed, Rachel followed her up as she wanted to check on her

"Molly are you going to sleep now"

"Yeah" Molly replied

"Okay, we'll try and get some rest though it'll probably be difficult, things will seem better in the morning though I promise you love" Rachel said "and if you need anything at all just come and get me don't be afraid, did holly show you where my bedroom is?"

Molly shook her head

"Oh right, well it's just next to Lexis room so just knock on the door if you need me okay?"

"Okay thankyou so much for all this miss"

"Molly honestly i want to help as much as I can, you don't have to keep thanking me and I promise it's okay to call me Rachel, I get enough of "miss" in school the last thing I want is to have it at home too"

Once Rachel had checked she was comfy she went downstairs for a bit. Holly went up a bit later and Rachel waited up for Thomas to come in at about midnight.

"Rachel how's she settling in?" Thomas asked once they'd sat down with some coffee.

"Oh you know alright I guess...it's hard for her though you can tell, I'm trying to get her to stop calling me miss round the house"

"Well I'm sure it'll take a while to stop that habit"

"I just want her to feel semi relaxed here, but it's been such a horrible day for her" Rachel sighed "and I'm worried about Lexi too?"

"Why what's up with Lexi?"

"Well she came home from school in tears because she'd been in trouble, but she's seemed really unsettled all night she said she had a poorly tummy but I didn't buy it and she practically begged me to let her come in with us tonight"

"Did you let her?"

"No I just stayed with her till she went to sleep"

Lexi had woken up at about 12:30 and realised that she must have had an accident while she'd been asleep as she had wet pyjamas and sheet, she immediately began to cry as she felt really embarrassed by it, it hadn't happened yet while she'd been at her mums house and she was worried about how she was going to react and felt really scared.

Molly hadn't gone to sleep yet as she'd been worried and hadn't stopped crying about her mum, so she heard Lexi straight away.

She didn't know whether to go and see to her yet or not as she didn't want to intrude but when she realised Rachel must not have heard she went in as she didn't just want to leave her

"Lexi what's wrong?" Molly asked going over

"I can't say" Lexi sobbed

"Do you want your mummy?"

Lexi shook her head but then nodded

"I'll go and get her for you"

Molly knocked on Rachel's room but there was no answer so she went down and realised a light was on in the back room so she went through and found Rachel and Thomas sat talking

"Oh you must be Molly, I'm Thomas Rachel's husband" Thomas said smiling

"Hi Thomas" molly said

Rachel could tell she'd been crying so presumed she'd come down because of this

"Thomas and I were going to bed, but I'm going to stay down for another coffee, do you want to join me?"

"Yeah that'd be nice, but I came to see you because I think lexis upset, I found her crying in her room"

"Oh dear, well I'll nip and check on her now, how about you make us a hot drink though and we'll have a chat when I've seen to her"

"Yeah I'd like that miss...I mean Rachel"

Rachel gave her a smile before going upstairs with Thomas

"Do you want me to come and see Lexi with you?"

"No it's okay, if she's upset she might not want a big fuss made, you just get to bed you must be knackered after your day"

"Night then darling I love you"

"I love you too"

Rachel then went into lexis room and found her in tears sat up in bed so she flicked the light on

"Hey what's all this about mrs?" She asked going over and sitting down next to her

"Mummy I didn't mean to do it, but it just happened, I'm really sorry"

"Didn't mean to do what my love?"

"I've wet my bed"

"Really, that isn't like you Lexi" Rachel said sounding a bit concerned but this seemed to make Lexi more upset

"I'm sorry"

"Oh no I didn't mean you have to be sorry about it, oh sweetheart it's alright I'm not cross or anything" Rachel soothed "hey don't cry it's fine, look we'll have it straight in the wash and nobody need know anything about it"

"But what if they see in the washing machine?"

"Darling do you really see anyone going near that thing beside me?" Rachel said "look I'll get up especially early tomorrow for the washing and I'll sort it all out"

"Mummy I really didn't mean to"

"Of course you didn't, hey look it's no big deal, I remember when I was 9 I wet my bed once and you're still only a little girl"

"But I haven't done it for ages" Lexi cried

Rachel got her up and sat her on her knee for a big cuddle

"Lexi it's no big deal I promise, look how about we get you changed and then we'll have a little chat okay?"

Lexi nodded so Rachel quickly got her sorted into something fresh and put new sheets on before sitting back down with Lexi

"Lexi has something happened that's made you a bit unhappy love, it's just it is a bit unlike you and often it's because something's upset you a bit"

"No I don't know why it happened it just did" Lexi cried

"Okay darling, like I said you're just a little girl, these things are bound to happen sometimes"

"But it's really embarrassing"

"Oh Lexi, the only person that knows anything about it is me and I'm your mum, if you feel embarrassed in front of me I'm clearly going very wrong somewhere"

"Mummy please don't tell anyone, especially not Thomas"

"I won't Lexi, though I'm sure Thomas is more than used to it, he works in a children's ward"

"But I really don't want you to"

"Then I won't" Rachel said "are you ready to go back to sleep now darling?"

"Please can I come in with you and Thomas?"

"Yes okay just this once, I'm going to nip down though to pop your stuff in the wash and me and Molly are going to have a chat, then I'll be up,but i imagine you'll be fast asleep by then"

Rachel carried her through to her room and found Thomas just about to turn the light off

"Thomas Lexi is a bit upset, she's just going to come in with us for tonight"

"It's a good job we've got a big bed then isn't it" Thomas said smiling at Lexi "are you going to jump in with me then while your mum goes downstairs with Molly"

Lexi nodded so Rachel got her In

"Now I don't know about you Lexi but I'm really tired, so Is it okay if I flick the main light off?"

Lexi nodded her head

"Would you mind if I just left my little side light on though, I always like to have a little bit of light when I got to sleep"

"Yeah" Lexi said

Rachel smiled at him, grateful he'd been so tactful about leaving the side light on, both Thomas and Rachel knew how afraid Lexi was of sleeping in the dark but she wouldn't have liked to ask if they could leave a light on for her.

Rachel them went down and saw Molly sat at her kitchen table

"Hey sorry I was so long" Rachel said heading over to the utility room

"Was Lexi okay?"

"Yeah she'll be fine, she'd had a bit of an accident" Rachel said as this was quite obvious with her putting lexis sheets In the wash "only don't say anything to her about it will you love? She's quite upset about it all"

"No course I won't" Molly said

Rachel then sat down a with her at the table

"So I take it you couldn't sleep then" Rachel said "you know if you need to talk to anybody then I'm here?"

Molly had been trying to hold back the tears but suddenly they all came out

Rachel quickly went over and gave her a hug

"Oh sweetheart you have a good old cry if that's what you need, you'll feel better for it"

"I'm sorry" Molly said feeling embarrassed

"Hey crying isn't something you need to feel sorry for, everyone needs a cry sometimes myself included" Rachel said "and after the day you've had I think It might be exactly what you need"

"I know you all thought she was a crap mum, but I still loved her so much"

"Oh Molly I've never said, or would dream of saying your mum was crap, she just had so so much in her plate" Rachel said

She stayed up with Molly for quite a while but after a while she got really tired all of a sudden and went to bed and managed to sleep through till the morning.

Would love it if people could give me some opinions on Molly's character, would you like her to be a permanent character or not. Also if anyone has any story-lines they would like to see included please suggest them, I'd really appreciate it!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Pauline- I did read your request yes, sorry I meant to reply to it but completely forgot and I will definitely consider doing a sequel once this story is finished! I agree with what you're saying, it is a bit unrealistic but I just needed it to be a bit far fetched so the story could progress the way I wanted it to, sorry about that hoping people could maybe over look the bits of it that aren't entirely realistic just so I can develop the storyline, thanks for your feedback though I really appreciate it :) Rosie sound love your idea thanks for the suggestion, will definitely use it a few chapters along !

A week or so had passed and Molly had seemed to have settled in reasonably well by now, obviously she was still upset about her mum, but she'd taken to living with Rachel and Thomas very well and the other two girls seemed to be getting on with her well.

It was a Sunday morning and Rachel and Thomas were both downstairs having a coffee.

"God I don't know how I got up at this time, I'm absolutely shattered" Rachel said yawning, Lexi had kept her awake for ages last night and she'd ended up in their bed again, this seemed to be happening a lot this week, she seemed really on edge all the time and night times had been particularly bad, everyone had tried talking to her but she wouldn't tell anybody what was wrong, both Rachel and Thomas were getting worried though.

"She seemed particularly bad last night"

"Yeah she did, I just don't know what it could be I mean I ran her school up last week and they said she wasn't having any trouble at all, though apparently she's been the same there, all withdrawn and quiet it's just so unlike her" Rachel sighed

"Well sometimes kids just go through a bit of a phase, you can't look too far into it, if there is something going on she'll tell us when she's ready"

"Yeah I hope so"

They sat chatting for a bit longer but then Holly came down.

"Hiya love" Rachel said

"Hey"

"So I take it the other two are still asleep?"

"Erm I think Molly might be awake but she's still in her bedroom and lexis fast asleep in your bed"

"Well I think it's best we let her sleep in for a while, she was up most of the night so she'll be absolutely shattered today" Rachel said "me and Thomas were thinking of taking her swimming later, you and Molly are more than welcome to join us if you fancy?"

"Actually I've got quite a bit of homework to do, so I was going to just get on with that today"

"What am I hearing correctly, you're going to be doing your homework?" Rachel said sounding shocked

Holly just smiled at her "I've got loads to do"

"Well I am impressed mrs, keep that up and it'll be A*s all round next year!"

"I don't know about that, but I am going to work hard I promise"

"Well that's music to my ears, but what's brought all this on?"

"We'll I've decided what I want to do when I grow up"

"Oh have you, when I asked you last week you said you didn't have a clue and bit my head off for pestering you about it"

"I know but I've been thinking and I suppose it is good to have a plan"

"Well you're not wrong there, so come on then don't keep us in suspense, what is it you want to do?" Rachel asked intrigued

"I want to be a teacher" holly said causing Rachel to smile

"Do you? It looks like you have more of me in you than I thought"

"Not secondary though, I don't think I could handle that"

"I don't blame you love" Rachel said laughing "well if that what you've decided, then there's a lot of hard work ahead of you my girl, you'd have to get the grades to get into a good university"

"I know"

"Still I'm sure if you put your mind to it you could do anything you wanted" Rachel said "still I'm sure you could take an hour or so off this afternoon to come swimming with us, we're going to the new pool that's opened with all the water slides"

"Okay since you've begged" holly said giving her mum a cheeky smile"

Holly stayed down for a bit longer and the Molly came down too

"Hey Molly did you sleep okay?" Rachel asked

"Yeah thanks"

"I was just saying to Holly, we're taking Lexi swimming later, do you want to join us?"

"Yeah that'd be really nice" Molly said smiling she really had already started to fell like part of the family by now and her and Holly had actually become quite close

The four of them stayed downstairs for a while but when Rachel saw it had got to half nine it was time to wake Lexi up so she went upstairs and into her own room, because Lexi had slept there last night.

She found her with the covers kicked off her, she'd been very restless over the last few nights, which wasn't great when she was sharing with her and Thomas.

"Lexi it's time to wake up love" Rachel said shaking her awake

Lexi woke up and sat up in bed

"Morning sleepy head, its 9:30 you know" Rachel said while stroking her hair

"Morning mummy" Lexi said

"How are you feeling? It took you a while to get to sleep last night didn't it huh?"

"I'm okay" Lexi said but she still sounded a bit teary

Rachel decided to try and have another chat with Lexi now, so she got up and closed the door behind her, so they wouldn't be interrupted

"Why have you closed the door mummy?"

"Because I think you and I need to have a little talk in private don't we?"

"Why?"

Rachel sighed before sitting back down next to her

"Because me and Thomas are getting very worried about you Lexi" Rachel said "during the day you're all quiet and jumpy, which isn't like you one bit and at nighttime there's been all the nightmares, not being able to get to sleep, crying through the night, wetting the bed every night, now you've never had any problems like this before since you started living with me but every night this week you have, so you can't tell me that it's all over nothing"

"Mummy I don't know why, I just can't sleep and then I have nightmares and then I get scared and wet my bed, I'm really really sorry" Lexi said sobbing because it was all really upsetting and humiliating for her

"Oh sweetheart I'm not trying to tell you off, you know I'm not angry I'm just worried, because often when a child starts getting all upset at night time like when it's never happened before it's because something has happened that's made them feel scared and upset. Now neither me or Thomas want you to feel scared or upset, which is why it's so so important to try and talk to us, we just want to help okay, I know I tell you off sometimes, but I care about you Lexi and no matter how bad something is you can't be too afraid to tell me"

All this made Lexi feel even more upset because she knew what she'd done was too bad to tell her mum or anybody else for that matter.

"Lexi what is it, what's happened come on talk to me my love?"

"Can I go to the toilet?" Lexi said not wanting her mum to push any further

Rachel sighed, she didn't know what she could do to get through to Lexi

"Yep of course you can" Rachel said

Lexi got out of bed and was going to walk across to the main bathroom to get away from her mum but Rachel stopped her

"Just use my bathroom"

Lexi went in, she stayed in there for a while even after she'd been, hoping her mum would go away. However Rachel was waiting outside for her and when she hadn't come out after a five minutes she knocked on the door

"Lexi are you okay?"

"Yep" Lexi called back but her voice sounded all tearful

Rachel knew Lexi hadn't locked the door, she never did because the locks were so tight, she didn't really want to go in though

"Are you done on the toilet?"

Lexi considered lying but knew she'd have to come out sometime

"Yeah"

"Cam you open the door for me then sweetheart?"

Reluctantly Lexi came out, when she saw her mum stood there looking all worried she suddenly really wanted a cuddle

"Mummy please can I have a hug"

Rachel crouched down and wrapped her arms around her and Lexi suddenly began to cry into her, she knew she couldn't say what had happened but it felt good to have a proper cry and a cuddle.

Rachel let her cry into her for a bit but then picked her up and put her in her knee

"Right what's happened?"

"Nothing I just feel really upset but I don't know why"

"Lexi I can't force you to talk, though I really wish you would" Rachel sighed "I'm going to leave this for now, because I can see we're not getting anywhere, but as soon as you feel like talking I want you to come to me or Thomas straight away"

"Okay"

"Now we're going to have a quiet morning, but we're all going to go swimming this afternoon"

"That'll be nice, but mummy I need to go and play round Chloe's house later too" Lexi said

"You need to?" Rachel said "I thought that'd be something you wanted to do"

"That's what I meant, please can I go?"

"Yeah I think so, anyway how about you nip and get dressed?"

Lexi went off to get dressed and they all finished up having quite a nice morning and then they all set off to the swimming pool

"Wow it looks really good" holly said when they got there and saw all the slides "someone will have to go on that massive one with me"

"I'll go on" Molly said

"Well I'm glad you volunteered Molly because there is no way you'd get me on that thing Holly, it looks deadly"

"Me neither" Thomas said laughing

When they got to the changing rooms they realised they were really full, so Rachel and Lexi went in one and holly and Molly in another.

Molly felt a bit embarrassed getting changed in front of Holly as she was really self conscious about the fact she hadn't developed much at all yet and didn't want anybody to notice.

Holly was just about to get changed into her bikini when she realised that she'd come on her period, she knew she'd come on today but had completely forgotten about bringing anything with her

"Molly you don't have a tampon on you do you?"

"No" Molly Said blushing, she hadn't even started her period yet however she didn't want to admit this to Holly

"Oh I'll just ask my mum then, the joys of being a girl eh"

Molly laughed at this but really she felt quite uncomfortable

Holly tied her long hair up in a bun before going out and knocking on Rachel's changing room door

"Mummy you can't let anybody in I'm getting changed" Lexi said

"Who is it?"

"Holly"

"It's only Holly Lexi, you don't mind her coming in do you?"

Lexi shook her head so Rachel let Holly in,she was confused as to why she still hadn't put her bikini bottoms on

"How come you haven't got changed?"

"I need to get something off you first...you know girl stuff" holly said not really wanting to go into details in front of Lexi

"Oh right just in my bag, take it to the loo with you"

When holly had gone Lexi asked "what girl stuff did holly need"

"Oh nothing love...just some hair grips to hold her bun up...I think we better put your hair up too Lexi"

Rachel put lexis hair into a bun before going out and putting all their stuff away.

They waited to meet up with everyone before going out to the pool

"Right do you two want to go off on the slides and me and Thomas will stay with Lexi for a bit"

Holly and Molly ran off to go on the slides and Rachel went In the pool with Lexi

They stayed with her for ages and for a while she seemed like her old self again as was really lively and bubbly but after they'd been there for a bit she became all quiet again

"Lexi do you want to come on one of the slides with me and Thomas?" Rachel asked

Lexi nodded so they went and found one where the three of them could go down in a big dingy

They had to wait for quite a while but eventually they could go on

Once they were all in they started to go down, they all got a surprise because they thought it was just a little kids slide but it turned out to be really fast and when they were about half way down Rachel realised her bikini top had fallen off causing Lexi and Thomas to burst out laughing

"Oh my god where the hells it gone" Rachel said panicking, trying to cover herself up "you two could at least try and help me look rather than just laughing"

Thomas saw it a bit ahead so quickly grabbed it and tried to help Rachel get it back on but it was hard while they were still on the slide

When they got to the bottom they saw the other two girls waiting for them

"Did you enjoy that?" Holly asked when she saw Lexi and Thomas come off laughing, she saw her mums face though and realised she must not have had quite as good a time on it as the other two

"Mummy got her boobs out" Lexi said loudly causing everyone to laugh except Rachel

"Thanks for that Lexi" Rachel said sarcastically

"Did you really mum? God you're 39 years old aren't you getting a bit old for that"

"I obviously didn't do it on purpose, it's this bikini the straps are really flimsy on it"

They stopped for a bit longer at the swimming pool before deciding to go home

Once they'd all got changed they got in the car and they drove back to the house.

"Mummy can I go to Chloe's when we get back"

"Yeah that should be fine, I don't want you to stop there too long though " Rachel said

As soon as they got back Lexi started to really worry, but she knew she couldn't not go round. She'd been friends with Chloe for a while but last week her big sister took them out with her and her friends and would get her and Lexi to steal things for them, because they were small and could reach their hands in cars and when they went in shops nobody would suspect them.

"Lexi I want you to be back home for 5, so if you look at the clock and the small hand is pointing to number 5 and the big hand is pointing to 12 that means it's time to come home" Rachel said

"Okay" Lexi said

Rachel sighed as she went off, she hoped that maybe a bit of time with Chloe might cheer her up though, as the two girls always had been very close.

Lexi felt all tearful as she was going up to the door, part of her wanted to run back home to her mum and tell her everything but she knew Chloe's sister would get her of she did this, so she knocked on the front door.

Chloe and her sister amber opened the door

"Hi Lexi, I was just saying to Chloe I'd take you out today for a treat, would you like that?" Amber asked

Lexi gave a tiny nod if the head

"Right I'll get my jacket" Amber said

Amber went through to the kitchen where her mum was and told her she was taking the two of them to the park for an ice cream and they'd be gone for a couple of hours.

Once they were out of the house, amber led them across the road and they walked to meet all her friends

"You two are doing a pretty good job of all this at the moment, you've got yourselves a job for quite some time by the looks of things, I'll meet you after school tomorrow we've got something extra special for the pair of you to do"

"Amber what of we get caught, mummy would be mad at us" Chloe said

"Well don't get caught then and it wouldn't be us mummy gets mad at it's just be the pair of you, it's not us who's been stealing stuff is it?"

Chloe and Lexi followed them round to the shops and as usual they went in and picked some stuff up before going out and once they were round the corner handing it to them.

"Good girls, do you want to have some of the sweets?"

Both of them shook their heads in response so Amber just shrugged

"Now let's find some cars"

They spent ages looking for ones with the window rolled down slightly and eventually they found one although it was only very slightly down

"Lexi you're the smallest get your hand down there and get the phone"

Tears filled up in lexis eyes as she felt really scared but she knew she had to do what they said

She could only just fit her hand through and it was hurting her quite a lot but she managed to get her hands on the phone

Suddenly she realised her arm was stuck and it was hurting a lot, when Amber saw someone in the distance she grabbed hold of lexis arm and yanked it out causing her to yelp out in pain.

Her arm was really hurting and she couldn't move it properly she was finding it hard not to scream out in pain

Rachel looked at the clock and was beginning to wonder where Lexi had got to as it was a lot later than what they agreed on. She wasn't especially angry at Lexi though because she was only little and didn't really have much concept of time.

After waiting a bit longer she decided to go round and get her herself.

When she knocked on the door though she found out they were still out with Chloe's big sister.

Suddenly Rachel saw them in the distance and realised Lexi was in floods of tears so she rushed over

"Lexi what's happened" she asked scooping her daughter up in her arms

"I took them to the park and she fell off the slide" amber explained "sorry I feel so bad, I tried keeping an eye in them both"

"It's okay it's not your fault, come on sweetie let's get you home we'll put some ice on it"

Rachel carried her back and took her through to the kitchen but when she was about to put the ice on she realised it was really swollen and red

"I think I'd best get Thomas to have a look at this, it looks quite nasty to me"

Rachel shouted Thomas and he came through

"Lexi's had a fall, her wrist looks really bad, will you have a look at it?"

"Oh dear, why is it you're always in the wars Lexi? I could have a full time job looking after you alone" he joked

He was very gentle with her and examined it properly

He got her to move it and she could do this okay so he could see it wasn't broken

"You're lucky, you've got yourself a bad sprain there Lexi, but it's not broken" Thomas said "put some ice in it Rach and I'll get a bandage, I think we'll put it in a sling for a day or so too"

Even when her wrist wasn't feeling quite as sore Lexi was still crying

"Lexi why don't you have a little lie down love, it might make you feel better"

Lexi went into the living room and Rachel brought a blanket to her, after the trauma of everything that had happened and a terrible sleep last night Lexi went to sleep straight away despite it only being 6 o clock

Rachel then went back into the kitchen to speak to Thomas

"How's she doing?"

"She's gone to sleep, she looked so upset though. I just want to protect her...she only looked about 3 when she went to sleep, I can't stand seeing her so upset"

"How did she do her arm"

"Fell off a slide"

"Oh right" Thomas said but he sounded quite uncertain

"What is it?"

"Well obviously I can't tell for sure, it's just the way the wrist was bruised didn't look like a fall more like they'd been extreme pressure in it"

"What so you think she was lying?"

"I don't know...I'd just be surprised if that was how she'd done it" Thomas said

Rachel thought for a minute but then gasped

"Thomas, she said she'd fell off a slide at the park near us but there isn't a slide there, it's just swings and a climbing frame and a roundabout" Rachel said

"Why would she lie about it though?" Thomas asked

"It was amber that told me how she'd done it...god you don't think maybe Amber pushed her or something by accident and didn't want to say"

"It's possible" Thomas said

"Well should I go and wake her?"

"No let her rest for a while, we'll both have a chat when she wakes up"

Lexi was actually in quite a deep sleep and Rachel and Thomas decided to keep her tea for later as they didn't want to wake her up.

It got to about 8 and Lexi suddenly started having a bad dream where the police were chasing her and she tried to go home but her mum and Thomas wouldn't let her in because they'd found our what she'd done, so the police got to her and threw her into jail.

Lexi then woke up screaming in floods of tears

Rachel and Thomas soon came running to her as did Holly and Molly

"It's okay Lexi it was just a bad dream" Rachel soother as she crouched down beside her "girls will you two give us a little bit of time"

Both girls got the hint and went back upstairs so Holly could finish doing Molly's nails for her

Lexi suddenly sat up and was sick all over the duvet

"Oh dear" Thomas said

"Well it's better over the duvet than over the sofa, you haven't had an accident have you Lexi?" Rachel asked really hoping she hadn't because it wasn't as though the sofa was leather

"No" Lexi sobbed

"Okay you just take some nice deep breaths yeah, why don't you go and sit on Thomas's knee while I get the duvet through the wash and I'll get some water and a fresh top...though I may as well bring your pyjamas down"

Lexi went over and started crying into Thomas

"Hey it's okay Lexi, me and mummy are here aren't we" he said trying to soothe her

Rachel left to get everything sorted and Thomas continued to try and comfort Lexi

"Lexi me and your mum are worried" he said "you seem really frightened about something and I know how hard it is to tell people about the thing you're frightened of but sometimes you've got to so things can start to get better"

Lexi didn't say anything and just continued to suck her thumb and cry

Rachel came back a few minutes later, she'd brought some pyjamas and hot chocolate for Lexi and had made 2 coffees for her and Thomas, she's brought some biscuits through for them too as she wanted to try and make Lexi feel relaxed.

Lexi jumped off Thomas's knee and got changed into her pyjamas before sitting in the sofa next to her mum

Rachel closed all the doors and sat back down

"Right Lexi me and Thomas need to know exactly what's been going on and nobody's going to be leaving here until you tell us" Rachel said quite firmly "you're worrying us now"

"Mummy I can't tell you" Lexi said

"Why not Lexi, why can't you to tell us?"

"Because you'd hate me forever" Lexi said breaking down all of a sudden

"Oh sweetheart we'd never hate you no matter what you've done would we Thomas?"

"Of course not, whatever it is I'm sure me and your mummy have done worse at some point in our lives"

"No you won't have done...I'm going to go to prison"

"Is that for definite then is it?" Rachel said "Lexi whatever it is we'll sort it I promise"

Lexi stopped crying for a few moments and looked up at her mum

"So what do you think? Think it's maybe worth giving us a try, the worst we can do is get a bit annoyed, but surely that's better than torturing yourself like you have been this last week"

"Mummy I'm too scared to"

"Lexi me and your mum aren't monsters are we? We just want to try and find a way to help so you can stop all this worrying, because it's not been very nice seeing you so upset"

"Yeah and it might mean we can all get a decent nights sleep as well, no more getting up in the middle of the night" Rachel added lightly

" if I tell you, will you have to tell somebody else"

"That'll all depend on what it is Lexi"

Lexi took a deep breath before deciding to tell them

"Chloe's sister amber has been making me and Chloe steal loads of stuff, at first it was just from the shop but then she made up sneak our hands into cars and today my hand got stuck and she yanked it out and that's how I hurt my wrist...I'm really sorry, I didn't want to do it I was just scared" Lexi sobbed

Rachel continued to stroke her hair and was trying to keep calm but really she was seething, not with Lexi of course but with amber, she'd never got to know her that well but she'd never been overly fond of her

"Okay, it's okay we're going to sort it" Rachel said gently "you've been very brave telling me and Thomas this Lexi and nobody's going to get mad"

"Am I going to go to prison?"

"No Lexi, I don't think you'd quite fit in with a bunch of murderers and thieves" Thomas said smiling slightly

"But I am a thief" Lexi said crying

"Darling you were only doing it because you were so frightened and if I was your age and a much older girl was threatening me I'd have done exactly the same, but the thing is Lexi you should have come to me or Thomas as soon as this happened"

"I was too scared to" Lexi said

Rachel sighed and put her arm around her "we're just here to look after you Lexi and I don't think we'd have been doing a good job of looking after you if we'd have been really cross about it would we?"

Lexi relaxed against her mums chest and began to feel a bit calmer

"Now Lexi I don't need to tell you stealing is wrong do I?"

"No"

"But that's why you should have told someone sweetheart, but I do understand you were scared to" Rachel said "it's amber who we're cross with not you"

"Is Amber going to get into trouble?"

"That's not for you to go worrying yourself about Lexi" Thomas said "but yes she will"

"What if she gets angry with me though"

"She won't get a chance to" Rachel said "but honestly Lexi it isn't your problem, not anymore,

you've been very brave telling me and Thomas this and we're going to make sure it all gets sorted out"

Lexi didn't say anything but rested against her mums chest and had a bit of a cry

They stayed up for a bit before Rachel decided to get Lexi off to bed

"Mummy I want to stay in with you" Lexi sobbed

"Darling me and Thomas won't be up for a while yet"

"But can't I just stay in your bed so I know I won't be alone for the whole night"

Rachel sighed, she knew she needed to stop this however she didn't really have the heart to say no to Lexi so agreed to let her come in with them.

She tucked Lexi in before turning the main light off and flicking the lamp on

"Now I want you to try and have a good nights sleep, don't go worrying about anything it's all over I promise"

"I'll try not to worry" Lexi said

"Remember mum loves you so much and nothing can ever change that"

"I love you too"

"I'll see you in the morning sweetie, night night" she whispered before kissing her good night and then going downstairs

She went and sat back down next to Thomas.

They talked for ages, trying to decide what the best thing to do was. They thought about going straight to the police but in the end decided to go round tomorrow and talk with amber and her mum, however after all she'd put Lexi through, she wasn't prepared to let her get off lightly.

Please review


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sorry for lack of updates, I've been Ill with a kidney infection since coming back from Zante, I haven't been well at all and have only just got out of hospital yesterday but I'm really sorry for waiting so long ! Pauline I have guest moderation on, so the reviews don't come through till I moderate them, hence why you're not seeing them. Normally I check everyday so I can moderate any reviews I have but sometimes I forget to :)

It was late on a Thursday night and everyone was asleep in bed however Molly woke up at about 2 with a really sore stomach.

She tried to ignore it for a while and go back to sleep however she couldn't so went downstairs to get a drink and some tablets.

Rachel had heard somebody get up and got out of bed to check everything was okay. When she got up she put her dressing gown over herself and went downstairs and into the kitchen, where she found Molly getting herself a drink of water.

"Molly is everything alright?" She asked

She'd been quite concerned about Molly over the last week or so, she seemed to be having a few issues at school and her marks seemed to have slipped a lot. Rachel had tried talking to her about it however Molly presumed that Rachel was having a go at her and just kept saying she was sorry.

"Yeah" Molly said

"Did you just get thirsty?" Rachel asked

"I have a bad stomach ache and it woke me up"

Rachel sighed, there'd been a few times this week where Molly had told her she was Ill to get out of school, unfortunately for Molly though having worked with teenagers for so long she knew when someone was faking an illness and just presumed she'd be doing this now

"Molly come and sit down for a second" Rachel said

Molly went and sat next to Rachel at the table

"Now this stomach ache, is it because your really poorly or... Or is it because you're a bit upset and worried"

"No I really do have a stomach ache, I'm not lying"

"Molly I know schools not going so well at the moment and I do understand how tough that can be, but you can't just try and get out of it, it's not going to make things any easier for you in the long run in fact it'll make It a lot worse"

Molly knew there was no point trying to convince Rachel she wasn't lying so just left it

"Molly you know I am here to talk to you know" Rachel said gently "both at home and as your head teacher"

Molly just nodded her head in response

Rachel stayed down with her for a little bit but then the two of them went back up to bed

when molly woke up the next morning she still had a really bad stomach ache, she got out of bed and went to the toilet, when she got there she realised that there was blood on her pyjama bottoms and realised she must have started her period.

Molly immediately began to worry as she didn't really know what to do and felt really scared by it all, however she felt far too shy and embarrassed to speak to Rachel or even Holly about it

Her mum had never spoken to her about it before so she'd only learnt about it from school and from some of her friends however she still didn't know much, she knew she had to use pads but she didn't really know how to put them on or even what they looked like.

In the end she just used toilet paper before going back to her room. She got changed straight away and put her pyjamas to the back of her draw

When Rachel came in a few minutes later she could tell something was up as Molly was just laid in bed clutching her stomach

"How's the stomach?" Rachel asked realising that Molly probably was telling the truth last night and felt guilty for not believing her; she really didn't look very well now.

"It's really sore" Molly said truthfully

"Well enough for school or not?"

"I don't know" Molly said

"Well how about you give it a try for the morning and Thomas has an afternoon off seen as he's doing a night shift tonight so he can come and pick you up"

"Okay" Molly said, though she seemed a little tearful

The morning seemed to pass quite quickly, though Molly couldn't concentrate in most of her lessons as she was so worried about everything, all her friends had noticed something wasn't right but when they asked her about it she said she was fine.

By break time though Molly was feeling really poorly so she went up to Rachel's office

She knocked on the door and when Rachel called her in she opened the door and walked straight over

"You still not feeling well?" Rachel asked

"No" Molly said with tears in her eyes

"Oh dear, how about you stop up in here for a bit then until Thomas can pick you up"

"Okay" Molly said

Rachel sat her down on the sofa and got her a glass of water.

Molly actually finished up falling asleep while she was waiting for Thomas.

When Thomas texted Rachel to tell her he was waiting outside Rachel woke Molly up and took her to the car

Molly spent most of the afternoon in bed worrying about everything, she still felt really shaken up and scared. She'd just been using toilet paper so far because it was really light but she could tell it was beginning to get heavier but she still felt way too scared to tell anybody.

Thomas came up a few times to check on her but he could tell she didn't really want to talk to him so left her to it.

Rachel got back at about 4 with Holly and Lexi.

Lexi immediately ran up to Thomas to give him a cuddle

"Oh that's a nice welcome Lexi" Thomas said smiling at the little girl

"Mummy's being nasty to me"

"What's she been doing?" Thomas asked

"Erm excuse me I am here you know" Rachel said "just because I wouldn't take you to the shop to buy you a load of sweets doesn't mean you have the right to try and gang up on me young lady"

"But I'm starving" holly moaned

"Well we'll be having tea at about 6 which isn't that late, in the meantime why don't you have an apple or a banana"

"I don't like apples or bananas though"

"Well you can't be that hungry then" Rachel said

"But mummy ..."

"But nothing, you can wait for your tea like a big girl and if you eat it all up then I might let you stay up late and watch tv seen as it's a Friday"

Lexi liked the sound of this so forgot about wanting sweets and went upstairs to play with some of her toys

By the time they all sat down for diner later Molly was feeling really quite poorly and she was worried because it seemed quite heavy now and she really didn't want to leak.

She was really quiet as they all ate their dinner but Rachel presumed that this was because she was still feeling poorly and thought maybe after an early night and some more medicine she'd start to feel better.

"Mum is it okay if I go to Amy's for a sleepover later?" Holly asked

"Erm yes that's fine by me, will you be needing a loft round"

"If that's okay, it's only just round the corner so I suppose I could walk if you'd prefer me to"

"No it's fine, I need to go to tesco later anyway because we're completely out of shampoo and shower gel, I forgot to order them when I was doing the online shop this week" Rachel said "Molly is everything okay with your tea love?"

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling great, please can I go upstairs?"

"Erm yeah of course if you're sure you don't want anything"

Molly got up and put her plate by the dishwasher, when she was going upstairs Rachel and Thomas both noticed the red patch on her trousers however Rachel three him a look which told him not to say a word.

Rachel got up and followed Molly up to her room, she wasn't sure if this was Molly's first period or not but thought it might be because of how she'd been acting today

She went up to Molly's room and knocked on her door

"Molly can I come in?"

"Yeah"

Rachel went in and sat down on the bed, Molly was laid down holding her stomach

Rachel wasn't sure of exactly what to say but it the end decided to just come out with it

"Molly love have you started your period?"

Molly's face turned bright red and she have a quick nod of the head before turning to face the wall as she felt embarrassed

"Hey it's okay Molly, you don't need to feel embarrassed, is it..is it your first time?"

"Yes" Molly mumbled

"Oh dear it can be a bit scary at first can't it...it's certainly a shock. When did it start?"

"This morning when I got up"

"And is that what's been upsetting you all of today hmm is it?"

Molly nodded her head again and sat up and Rachel put her arm around her

"I know it must have felt like a really big thing to happen. But you didn't need to keep it to yourself, you could have told me about it" she said gently

"I just felt scared to tell you"

"You don't have to be scared of me love, do you want me to get you some pads?"

Molly nodded so Rachel got up and got her a pack

"Thanks"

"That's alright, there really easy to use just unwrap it and stick it on your knickers, you could have a shower though first to freshen up a bit"

"Okay thank you," Molly said "Rachel how did you know?"

"Erm well I think you might have leaked a little bit onto your jeans"

"Oh no did everyone see" Molly asked mortified

"No no don't worry love, only I saw, that's why I came up straight away before anyone did see" Rachel said, there was no way she was going to mention to Molly that Thomas had seen too "now you know if you've got any questions at all, or anything you want to talk about I'm here don't you"

"Yeah"

Rachel could tell she really didn't want to speak about it anymore so squeezed her shoulder and got up

A couple of hours later Rachel and Thomas were sat downstairs. Molly got a text from one of the girls in her class asking if she'd like to come to a sleepover. Molly instantly felt excited by this as she was feeling quite lonely at school at the moment and they'd been a bit of teasing going on which was really getting her down, but she wasn't the type of girl who liked to make a fuss and almost felt too embarrassed to tell anybody about it

She went downstairs and into the living room where they were sat

"Hey love"

"Rachel is it okay if I go to Lucy's sleepover tomorrow"

"Yeah of course it is Molly" Rachel said smiling

She was really pleased to hear Molly say this as she'd noticed how down Molly had seemed and had seen her by herself a but of school so it was a relief to see for Rachel to see Molly going out with some of the girls

"Thanks" Molly said smiling

Rachel realised it was getting late so decided to put Lexi to bed, she'd been getting really argumentative over the last couple of hours but Rachel put it down to her feeling tired after a busy week at school

"Lexi it's bed time"

"I don't want to go to bed" Lexi said

Rachel sighed she hated it when Lexi went on like this because it would almost always end in tears

"Darling it's past your bedtime as it is, you'll be shattered tomorrow morning if you don't go up now" Rachel reasoned

"No" Lexi said folding her arms

"Lexi do as your mum tells you too" Thomas said

"But I don't want to go to bed"

"Well it's not up for discussion I'm afraid, come on get up them stairs"

Lexi continued to kick up a massive fuss and In the end Rachel finished lifting her up and carrying her despite the fact she was kicking to try and get down

"Lexi stop it you're going to hurt me"

"Well put me down then" Lexi cried

"No because you'll run away from me, and then we'll have a half hour palaver of trying to find you"

Rachel carried her in to her bedroom and put her in bed

"Mummy please can I come back down" Lexi sobbed

"Lexi you're acting like a 2 year old having a temper tantrum, come on calm down a bit then go to the bathroom and if you've settled down I'll read you a quick story before bed"

Lexi still didn't want to go to bed but she knew her mum wouldn't back down so in the end decided to leave it and went to the bathroom before going back to bed

"I'm sorry mummy"

"That's alright, I know it's a pain when you have to go to bed when you don't want to but sometimes you just have to do things you don't want to" Rachel said "do you want to read a story or just have a cuddle and a chat for a little bit?"

"Just have a chat"

Rachel smiled at her before getting into bed next to her and snuggling in

"So do you fancy doing anything tomorrow sweetheart? We could go to fine park, or the cinema or swimming, whatever you fancy"

"Can we go to the park"

"Yeah sure, hey if it's a nice day maybe you'd be able to go in our swimming pool later huh?"

"Yeah that'd be good" Lexi said "mummy if I asked you something would you be cross with me?"

"No love I don't think I would be" Rachel said wondering where this was leading

"Well when I was a baby what did I do wrong"

Hearing Lexi say this caused Rachel's heart to beat a bit faster and a lump to form in her throat, unlike Holly she'd never had to explain to Lexi about anything because Lexi had never asked she was just so grateful for Rachel's attention now

"What of you mean Lexi?"

"Well I must have done something naughty for you to not want me to stay with you because most babies stay with their mummy's"

"No darling it was absolutely nothing to do with you and you're to never think that okay..not ever, it was me who was bad Lexi, I used to be with a not very nice man who'd do lots of not very nice things to me and in the end he started to turn nasty towards you as well, so then me and you lived alone for a bit but I wasn't a very nice person back then and I think that you deserve to be with lots of nice people and I knew you would be"

"But you're the nicest mum ever"

Hearing Lexi say this brought tears to Rachel's eyes and she brought her daughter into a cuddle

"Thankyou Lexi, that's a very nice thing to say" she whispered

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight mummy?"

"Why there's nothing troubling you is there?" Rachel asked sounding worried

normally Lexi would only make a fuss about wanting to sleep with her if there was something on her mind as she hated being alone when she was upset

"No I just like you cuddling me when I'm asleep"

"Okay then, just this once" Rachel said

"Really" Lexi said sounding surprised as her mum never normally let her in her bed unless she was upset about something

"Yeah why not?"

Lexi Smiled and ran into Rachel's room and got into her bed

"Right you get comfy and me and Thomas will be up later but by then you will be fast asleep yes?"

Lexi nodded her head and Rachel kissed her goodnight before going downstairs

When her and Thomas got in a few hours later Lexi was fast asleep. Rachel smiled to herself before getting in next to her and flicking off the light.

The next day seemed to go by quite quickly and before long it was time for Rachel to drop Molly off at Lucy's house

She'd been really excited all day and it was nice for Rachel to see her so happy, as she'd been really down recently

"Now you call me if there's any problems okay and I'll be right there, I'm sure you'll have a good time though" she said "be good and I'll see you tomorrow"

"Bye Rachel" Molly said before running off inside

Everything had been going okay there however Molly was feeling a bit uncomfortable as she felt like she was being made fun of by the other girls

"Would anyone like a drink?" Lucy asked

All the girls said what they would like and Molly asked for a lemonade so Lucy and Chloe went downstairs

"Lucy I've got an idea" Chloe said

"What?"

"How about we put something in Molly's drink, your parents have loads of stuff don't they" Chloe asked giggling

"We can't do that" Lucy said shocked

"Or go on it'd be so funny watching her get drunk"

"Chloe what if my parents find out they'd go mad"

"Well they won't will they, god you can be so boring at times"

Lucy really didn't want to, she liked Molly and hated how the other girls would treat her but agreed to go along with it as she hated it when Chloe turned on her.

They found some vodka and put quite a lot in Molly's drink.

When Molly tasted it she thought it tasted really funny, but thought that Lucy must just get a different type of lemonade than the one she usually had and didn't want to be rude so gulped it down and Chloe went down and got her some more.

Having never had alcohol before in her life it didn't take long for Molly to feel tipsy and before long she'd got really bad much to the amusement of the other girls

Molly was staggering around everywhere and being really loud, which was so weird when she was normally quiet.

One of them got a video if her falling about everywhere while singing and posted it on Facebook

Suddenly she began to feel really sick and had to stumble to the bathroom

Despite all the other s laughing at her lucy felt bad and followed her in

"Oh my god are you okay?" She said

"I want Rachel to come and get me" Molly slurred through tears

"Alright I'll go and get my mum to give her a call" Lucy said

As soon as Rachel had been called she got in the car and drive over straight away, feeling really worried about Molly now

She got out he car and invoked in the door and before long Lucy's mum answered

"Rachel I've got Molly downstairs" she said though Rachel could tell how panicked she sounded and this made Rachel even more concerned as she wondered what on earth could have happened while Molly was there

"What's happened with her?" Rachel asked

"I think there must have been drink involved, I had absolutely no Idea the girls had anything and obviously I wouldn't have allowed them to drink, but she's in quite a bad way"

"What" Rachel said feeling shocked and worried as Molly was still so young

She instantly went through and saw Molly on the sofa, she'd sobered up now she'd been sick a few times but she wasn't right at all

"Molly what have you had to drink?"

"Nothing" Molly said

"You don't get like this without there being drink involved, so if you've had something you better own up to it now or you're going to get in a lot more trouble"

Molly kept saying she hadn't had anything but obviously they didn't believe her, but in the end they had to give up and Rachel helped Molly back to the car

"Molly I don't believe this if you" Rachel sighed "this isn't like you not one bit"

"I haven't had anything" Molly sobbed

"Molly you must have done...you're only getting yourself into more trouble for lying"

Molly barely said a word the whole way back but she was still tipsy so Rachel had to help her out the car

Thomas was in the hall and saw the two of them come in

"Molly have you been drinking?" He asked sounding shocked

"Yes she has, though she's not admitting to it"

"Molly you must know better than that a clever girl like you and at such a young age"

"Thomas I've tried there's no point, we'll have to talk in the morning when she's sobered up...come on Molly let's get you up to bed"

Molly wasn't saying anything but all the drink was making her really tearful

"Molly there's no use crying about it...you need to sober up and you'll feel better in the morning" Rachel sighed "Thomas I'm going to help her into bed will you bring some water up"

"Of course"

Rachel had to help her get changed and into bed and Thomas brought some water and they both sat next to her

"Molly you really need to try and be honest, has somebody given you something to drink?" Thomas asked

"No I just had lemonade but it tasted really funny"

"Oh my god they must have spiked her drink, who made it for you Molly? Come on it's okay you're not in trouble"

"Lucy and Chloe"

"I might have known, Lucy's a lovely girl but that Chloe is a horrible piece of work, though maybe I shouldn't say that"

"She just needs to sleep it off, maybe she'll tell us more in the morning"

"Come on sweetheart, close your eyes and try and get some rest huh"

"Am I in trouble?" Molly asked sounding really worried

"No no of course not don't go worrying about that"

"So you're not going to kick me out"

"No Molly don't worry it's absolutely fine, nobody's angry at all"

Rachel stayed with her until she eventually dropped off however both Rachel and Thomas were livid after what they'd found out.

PLEASE REVIEW


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Thanks so much for all the reviews, I've just started at uni so updates probably won't be as frequent as they have been, apologies for how long this one had taken haven't had much chance with it being freshers and everything !

It was the Sunday after the night Molly had come home drunk and she'd been really worried a

all weekend, she knew Rachel was going to speak to them all first thing in Monday morning and Molly was Absolutely terrified about how they were going to react to her once Rachel had spoken to them, however she expected they wouldn't be best pleased.

Molly went into the computer room where Rachel was working however she stopped and minimised the screen when she saw Molly walk in and turned to face her

"Hey love, everything okay?"

"Yeah" Molly said "can I talk to you?"

"Of course you can, sit down"

Molly sat down on the chair next to Rachel and Rachel took her glasses off and moved in closer to her

"I was thinking...you don't have to speak to those girls, I'm sure they only did it as a bit of a joke and I don't want to cause any trouble"

Rachel sighed and put her hand on Molly's lap knowing full well she was terrified of them all

"Molly one thing you should know about me by now, is that I don't tolerate bullying and..."

"But they weren't bullying me.." Molly protested

"Wait let me finish, what they did to you was unacceptable and I'm going to make that very clear to them tomorrow"

"Rachel it's only going to make things worse"

"Make what worse exactly? If it's not bullying and was just a one off incident surely they'll just take the telling off they're going to get off me, apologise and get over it"

Molly didn't say anything but her eyes suddenly filled with tears

"Oh Molly, why don't you tell me exactly what's been going on?"

"Nothing's been going on" Molly said through tears

Rachel sighed and put her arm around her and gave her a hug, before grabbing her a tissue and dabbing at her eyes

"Come on you know you can talk to me"

"It's nothing I'm fine" Molly said before getting up and rushing out, leaving Rachel feeling really worried about her.

She had lots of work to do though as she had an important meeting tomorrow which she still needed to do quite a bit of preparation for. Thomas was doing a night shift and had already left for work so she was on her own with the girls and she could really do with somebody giving Lexi a bath as she really didn't have the time

In the end she shouted holly through hoping she wouldn't make a fuss over it

When Holly heard her mum shouting her she came rushing through

"Darling give your sister a bath for me would you? I've got so much work to do and she's got school tomorrow so I really need to get her ready for bed"

"mum you say that like it's an easy thing to do, she's an absolute nightmare when you're not around she scratches, hits she even kicks me" holly said

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes

"Fine I'll do it"

"No it's okay, I'll get her in now"

"Thanks love, I owe you one"

Holly went into Lexi's room and found her fast asleep on her bed which was very unusual for Lexi, holly smiled to herself and woke her up

"Lexi mums really busy so I'm going to do your bath okay? Then we'll put you to bed, but mum will come in to say goodnight okay?"

Lexi wasn't feeling herself at all and just gave a nod of the head

"You alright?" Holly asked

"I think so"

Holly laughed at her and then started to run the bath, when it was ready she called Lexi in.

Lexi went into the bathroom and quickly got undressed before stepping into the bath

Normally when Rachel wasn't around she'd take full advantage of if and muck around and spill the water everywhere however she was practically silent as Holly bathed her

"Lexi are you sure you're okay, normally you're like a devil child when I bath you" holly said

"I'm okay" Lexi said

"You know if you're upset you can tell me, hey even if you've done something really naughty you know I wouldn't tell mum, but I don't like to see you all sad and quiet Lexi"

"I just feel a bit funny and I'm tired"

"Oh right, well I think mum's really busy but I'll read to you and get a hot water bottle and even some hot chocolate if you like"

"Yeah that'd be nice"

Once Lexi had finished in the bath, Holly got her out and dried her off and blow dried her hair before getting her into some warm pyjamas

"Holly I think I just want to go to sleep"

Holly put her hand to lexis forehead and realised she felt very warm

"Aw you're not right are you, I think mums got calpol downstairs, I'll nip and get you some"

Holly got the calpol and brought it up and gave it to Lexi

Lexi got into bed but Holly realised she hadn't made her brush her teeth and go to the loo

"Wait don't you need to go to the bathroom first"

"No"

"But you haven't been for a last wee or brushed your teeth"

"But I'm really tired, I don't want to get out of bed"

"I know but if you don't go now you're only going to have to get up later because you'll need to go, so come on up you get"

Reluctantly Lexi got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

When she'd been Holly put her back to bed and sat down next to her

Rachel walked in a few minutes later to check in on Lexi and smiled when she saw the two of them despite the fact Holly could be very stroppy at times she always had been brilliant with Lexi and was almost like a second mum to her.

"Hey you two, are you all ready to go to sleep Lexi?"

"Yeah"

"You been for a wee?"

"Yes"

"Brushed your teeth"

"Yes"

"Good girl, is it time for sleep now then mrs? You've got school in the morning remember"

"She's not feeling too good are you Lexi? She's been really tired and I think she's got a bit of a temperature"

"Really" Rachel said going over and feeling Lexi's forehead "oh yeah she is a bit hot, I'll get some calpol"

"I've given her some"

"Oh well done love, you may as well take over as me" Rachel joked "so are you not feeling too great lexi?"

"Yeah I feel a bit poorly"

"Oh dear, well a good nights sleep will do you good, I'm sure you'll be right as rain by in the morning"

"mummy my tummy hurts and so does my back"

"You've probably just worn yourself out a bit, it'll just be tiredness I reckon, come on try and get some rest huh"

"Okay, night mummy love you"

"Night darling, I love you too, give me a shout if you need anything"

Rachel kissed her goodnight before flicking the light off and closing her door

"Thanks so much for sorting her out love"

"It's okay, have you finished your work yet"

"More or less I've still got a bit to do though"

Holly went downstairs to watch tv and Rachel went back to the study to do some more work.

She'd been up there about an hour when she heard someone walk across the landing so she opened the door and saw Lexi

"Lexi everything okay ?, I'd have thought you'd be fast asleep by now"

"I was but I woke up because I need to go for a wee"

"Oh right, go on then love" Rachel said, she was a little surprised because Lexi wouldn't normally wake at all during the night but she didn't think much of it

When Lexi had been she went into the study and sat down on her mums knee

"Darling you need to go back to sleep, or you'll be shattered in the morning"

"My tummy hurts though"

"I'm sure you'll feel better by the morning love, come on back to bed"

"Will you put me back to bed"

"Lexi I've got so much work to do, I'll come and check on you in a bit"

"Can I sleep in your bed?"

"No love, sleep in your own bed"

Lexi got off her mums knee and walked back to bed but Holly was on her way up and saw her so followed her in

"What are you doing out of bed?"

"I had to go to the toilet" Lexi said "please will you put me back in bed"

Holly nodded and tucked her little sister back in

"Holly I really don't feel well" Lexi said

"Have you told mum?"

"Yeah she said that I'd be all better by the morning and I was to just go to sleep"

"How about we give that a try then?"

"Okay" Lexi mumbled "holly I don't want to sleep on my own but mum won't let me sleep with her"

"You can sleep in my room if you want"

"Really" Lexi said

"Yeah sure, as long as you don't start snoring"

"I don't snore" Lexi said indignantly

"I'm only kidding"

Lexi took Holly's hand and went through to her room and got into her bed

"I'm just going to say night to mum then I'll be through"

Holly went into the study where Rachel was still working

"Mum you look knackered, why don't you just call it a day"

"I wish I could, I've just forgotten how much I actually had to do"

"It's really late though"

"I know, I won't be long"

"Lexi's in my room by the way, she said she didn't want to sleep on her own so I said she could come in with me"

Rachel sighed she didn't really want Lexi not sleeping in her own bed but there wasn't a lot she could do about it now

"Okay"

"Night mum love you"

"Love you too, see you in the morning"

It was about one in the morning when Rachel eventually finished her work and she was absolutely exhausted from it

She shut down the computer and walked across the landing however she bumped straight into Lexi

"Sorry darling I wasn't looking where I was going" she said

Lexi didn't say anything but rushed into the bathroom

Rachel was a bit concerned so went in after her and found her nearly in tears on the loo

"Lexi what's the matter love?"

"It hurts when I go for a wee"

"Oh dear and are you still feeling a bit poorly?"

"Yeah"

"I think you've got a bit of an infection sweetie, we'll have to get you a doctors appointment for tomorrow sometime"

"Will they make me better"

"Yes love they'll be able to make you feel loads better, they'll give you some special medicine that'll stop you feeling poorly"

"Okay" Lexi said

Rachel lifted her up in her arms and carried her back into Holly's room and made sure she was all comfy again before leaving

When she was going to her own room she noticed that the light was on still in Molly's room, Rachel sighed and went in and found her in bed crying so she went in next to her

"Oh Molly" she whispered "it's all going to be just fine I promise you"

"Rachel please don't say anything to them" she cried "please don't"

Rachel sighed not knowing what to say to make her feel better so she just continued to hug her

"Darling it's all going to be okay, it is I promise you"

Rachel couldn't promise she wasn't going to say anything when she fully intended to and she didn't want to lie to Molly.

"I feel sick"

"Bathroom then"

Molly rushed across and Rachel followed her in and rubbed her back and held her hair out her face while she was sick

"Molly nothing's worth getting so upset about you finish up making yourself sick I promise you"

"I just don't want you to say anything"

"Love I'd have to be pretty crap at my job if I didn't say something wouldn't I huh?"

"But..."

"Molly you need to stop worrying about this, it's going to be okay I promise, now let's get you back to bed"

Rachel took hold of Molly's arm and led her back to bed and tucked her in, just as she would Lexi but Molly looked so vulnerable and scared Rachel couldn't help baby her.

She stayed with her until she eventually fell asleep and then went across to her own bedroom, feeling exhausted by now.

The alarm went off far too early for Rachel's liking however she dragged herself out of bed, got a shower before getting dressed for work

Lexi had kept holly up quite a bit in the night because she wasn't feeling very well, however holly hadn't wanted to wake her mum because she knew she'd been up really late

Lexi was still asleep when Holly woke up so she tiptoed round as she got changed trying not to wake her but Rachel came in a few minutes later anyway

"Morning"

"Morning mum"

"Was Lexi okay last night"

"Not really I don't think she's that well"

"I'll see how she is when I wake her up, I think she's got an infection though because she told me it was hurting when she went for a wee"

"Yeah she woke up loads last night to go"

"Oh why does everything always have to happen at once, lexis poorly, Molly's in a bad state about all the crap going on at the moment bless her and on top of it all I've got this meeting and Thomas still hasn't got back from work"

"That's illegal isn't it?"

"Yeah probably but they've never seemed to care too much about legal matters in that place"

Rachel went to wake Lexi up and it turned out she wasn't feeling well at all and when she took her temperature realised it was quite high

"Oh darling I don't know what we're going to do with you, you can't go to school, I can't look after you, Thomas's parents are away, all my friends are working" Rachel sighed "we're just going to have to hope Thomas gets In soon"

Thomas got in at about 8 and went upstairs to see Rachel who was with Lexi

"Hey darling" he said coming over and giving her a much needed hug "Lexi what are you still doing in bed?"

"I'm poorly"

"Yeah she is, I reckon it's a water infection"

"What are the symptoms?"

"Temperature, she feels sick and it hurts when she goes to the loo and she keeps having to go"

"You'd better get her to the doctors for some antibiotics or it could spread to the kidneys end up being a lot more serious"

"Do you really think you need to tell me to take her to the doctor" Rachel snapped "it's just in case you haven't noticed there's a hell of a lot of stuff going on and I can't do everything at once"

Thomas was taken aback by Rachel's tone a bIt but she immediately started to feel guilty

"Oh Thomas I'm sorry I don't mean to snap, I was up till 1 last night and everything's just happening at once, god you must be knackered yourself"

"Hey come here" he said wrapping his arms around her

"I'll stay here with Lexi, I'll take her to the doctors you just concentrate on work"

"Thomas you must be far too tired to look after a little girl"

"It's fine I'm used to functioning on zero hours sleep, it comes with the job"

"Well thank you so much I really do appreciate it"

"It's okay"

The morning went by quite quickly and before long it was time to go to school.

Rachel drove the pair of them in and Molly went straight to her tutor group

They all started laughing as soon as she walked in

"You getting on it again this weekend Molly?" One of the boys shouted

They all continued to go on at her for what seemed like forever and before long she felt tears in her eyes

It was then that somebody started showing the video of her drunk that had been posted on Facebook, Molly couldn't believe everybody had seen and ran out of the classroom before she burst into floods of tears.

She kept on running till she was outside the school gate and then walked to the park and sat on one of the benches.

By about lunch time Rachel was feeling considerably less stressed, as her meeting was over and it had all gone okay. She'd spoken to the girls about Molly and they'd all apologies and said they'd apologise to Molly too, however none of them seemed particularly genuine beside Lucy.

It was only then that she realised she'd got an email that morning telling her Molly hadn't shown up.

Rachel immediately began to worry and checked her phone but she hadn't got any messages.

She walked out to the car park and drove out of school

She'd tried ringing her loads and had left a couple of voicemails but so far she hadn't got a reply.

After about half an hour of searching for her with no luck she began to get worried and end eventually decided to try the park.

It was raining by now so Molly was freezing and although she was worried she was very relieved when she saw Rachel coming towards her

"Molly I've been worried sick" she said wrapping her arms round her

"I'm sorry"

"Never run off like that again okay, anything could have happened" Rachel said "sweetheart you're soaked through"

"I'm really sorry but everyone was going on and laughing and..."

"Shh it's okay love, look it's lunch now so I'll drive you home and I'll run you a nice warm bath, that sound okay?"

Molly nodded her head so Rachel helped her to the car and drove back

When she got there Thomas and Lexi were sat having diner

"Mummy why are you back?"

"Well Molly's feeling poorly so she's coming home too"

"Has she got an infection like me?"

"No darling she hasn't, have you been to the doctors yet?"

"Yes I had to do a wee in a pot" Lexi said giggling

"Lovely, what did they say Thomas?"

"Just an infection, she'll be on antibiotics for a week and obviously she'll have to keep her fluids up"

"Right well you should start to feel better soon then Lexi. Moly will you do me a favour love and get Lexi a big glass of water, I'll start running your bath, Thomas give us a hand will you?"

Thomas was confused because obviously Rachel didn't need any help running a bath but followed her out anyway

when they were upstairs Rachel said "Thomas she skipped school today, I think she's being bullied by the other kids, she was just in floods of tears in the park"

"Oh no really, poor girl"

"I know I felt so so sorry for her but I think she's okay now, just in need of a bit of TLC"

"Well I'll make sure she gets it"

Rachel smiled at him, she stayed home a bit longer but realised she'd have to get back

She spent most of her day worrying about Molly wondering what the best thing to do was.

Please review xxxxxx


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

This is set a couple of months later, just wanted to move the story on a bit :)

It was very late on a Thursday night and Holly was desperately trying to cram for her French writing controlled assessment the following day, although she'd been learning it for the past couple of weeks she just couldn't seem to remember it tonight and she was really panicking about it as it was part of her GCSE. The more she sat staring at it, the more she seemed to forget and the more she started panicking until eventually she was on the verge of tears.

Rachel had just been in the bath and realised there was a light on in her study, which was strange as she was sure she'd turned it off when she went in the bath. She wrapped her dressing gown firmly round herself before opening the door.

She was surprised when she saw Holly sat at her desk.

"Holly what are you doing in here? I thought you were in bed" Rachel said

"Well I don't know any of my bloody French and I'm doing it tomorrow, so I'm going to have to stay up all night. But if you're going to have a go at me for using your study I'll go somewhere else" holly shouted her eyes filling with tears

Rachel sighed before going and crouching beside her

"Did I even say a word about you being in my study?" She asked

"No but I bet you were going to"

"Well I wasn't, there should be no reason why you should be up here studying at this time though, not if you've put the work in"

Holly rolled her eyes, her mum had been on her case lately, she'd constantly been going on about the lack of effort Holly had been putting in and how her grades were slipping. What Rachel didn't know however is that Holly had been up late studying most nights and was so worn out she couldn't concentrate, she was just finding everything so hard at the moment and a,though she was putting more effort in that ever she just couldn't seem to do any of the work

"I have been putting the work in"

"Well that's not what miss Haydock seems or think"

"Mum you've seen me study for this"

"Well then there's no reason why you should have any problems is there" Rachel said "come on bed"

Holly flounced off tears forming in her eyes, she wished her mum and all her other teachers would realise just how hard she was working and how much she did care about school

She stayed up as late as she could but eventually gave up and went to sleep.

When the morning came round she started to feel physically sick, she had her assessment first lesson and she couldn't seem to remember anything.

Suddenly she had an idea, she knew it'd be really risky but thought it was her only chance of being able to get a half decent grade.

She closed her bedroom door and sat against it to make sure nobody would come in and with shaking hands started writing the draft out onto her hand.

Almost as soon as she'd done it she felt incredibly guilty and thought about rubbing it off straight away but she knew if she did that then she'd fail and her mum would be even more disappointed in her than she already was.

She stayed up in her room till it was time to go to school and got straight in the car

Molly got in the front and Holly got in the back next to Lexi

"Holly please will you do the buckle on my shoes for me?" Lexi asked as she hadn't had time to do it before she left the house because they'd been in a rush

"do it yourself"

"I can't though"

"Oh for gods sake Lexi you're not a baby" holly snapped

"Hey don't talk to her like that" Rachel said "just because you're stressed doesn't mean you can take it out on everyone else, and if you'd revised properly instead of trying to cram it all in the night before you wouldn't be stressed would you?"

"You have no bloody idea how hard I've worked for this, you just hate it because I'm not the perfect daughter and I don't get perfect grades, well maybe I'd have turned out slightly better if you'd have been there for some of my life instead of abandoning me. You know what just pull up the car and let me out, I'd rather walk"

Rachel was taken aback by Holly's tone, she sounded really angry with her

"Holly calm yourself down, it's 5 miles to school you're not going to walk that are you?"

Holly sat in silence for the rest of the journey. Rachel was going to ask her to wait when Molly got out so they could have a talk but she didn't get the chance because as soon as Rachel pulled up holly walked out the car and slammed the door behind her.

Rachel rolled her eyes, she knew she shouldn't have gone on at her but thought all this was a bit of an overreaction

There was nothing she could do about it now though, so just locked her car up and headed for her office

She had so much work to do that morning she didn't even have time to dwell too much on what had happened with Holly.

It was about 5 minutes before Holly was due to go into her French and she was shaking all over, she'd already had to run to the toilet to be sick. She knew how wrong it was to chest but she also knew how much she'd disappoint everyone if she failed.

When Holly finally went in and sat down she started to relax a bit.

When they all got started Holly glanced down at her hand and started copying bits out

It was all going okay until about half way through when steph started noticing holly looking at her hand, she walked straight over and Holly put her hand under her leg but stopped writing

"Outside" steph said firmly

As soon as she left with Holly she got someone to keep an eye on the class

"Show me your hand"

Holly considered refusing but knew she'd been found out and there was no point lying anymore, she held out her trembling hand

"Your mums office right now" she said "I hope you realise how serious this is, cheating couldn't get you disqualified from the entire exam you know"

Tears ran freely down Holly's face as they went up to her mums office, she couldn't believe she'd cheated now and felt more stupid and ashamed than she'd ever felt before

Steph knocked once on the door before going in.

Rachel was on her computer looking at some grade predictions for english, when steph walked in, she immediately looked up and saw Holly there in tears

"Holly what's happened why on earth aren't you in your French?"

"She was at first, but then I had to remove her when I caught her cheating"

"What" Rachel said in disbelief "no there must be some mistake, Holly wouldn't do something so stupid"

"I'm afraid there hasn't been a mistake, she was caught red handed, quite literally" Steph said "show your mum your hand Holly"

Holly held it out to Rachel and Rachel stared at it completely shocked

"I hope you realise how serious this is Holly, what the hell were you thinking you silly girl" Rachel shouted, Rachel realised they needed to get the exams officer up here as they'd need to contact the exam board "steph could you go and get mrs Layton up here please, tell her whats happened"

"Sure"

"I trust you've got someone invigilating your year 10s"

"Yes of course"

As soon as steph left Rachel turned her attention to Holly

"Have you got any idea how badly this reflects on the two of us" she said her voice completely cold

"Mum I'm sorry"

"You're sorry...you're sorry, is that all you have to say. Cheating is the most disgusting thing of all it's sly and it's calculated, I'm just so completely ashamed in you, I've never been so disgusted in all my life"

"But it's not like it's the actual exam"

"Do you think that matters? Does that make it any better, the exam board are well within there right to disqualify you, your entire future is put in jeopardy over this" Rachel shouted, she knew she was over exaggerating, they'd had a couple of students cheat in controlled assessments before and the exam board would just make them resit the unit with no help from teachers, but she wanted to bring home just how serious this really was "you know I once knew a girl who was caught cheating at university in her maths exam, she was kicked off the course, no qualification, no nothing all because of one idiotic mistake she lost everything do you want that to be you?"

Holly just shook her head in response to this tears rolling down her cheek

"There is nothing I hate more and to think my own daughter has that little about herself she feels the need to cheat" Rachel Said "why did you do it? Come on tell me why the hell you would do someone so stupid"

"I wanted to do well, I didn't want to let you down"

"You didn't want to let me down? It's not like you've done that at all is it Holly" she said "I would rather you got a D ..no I'd rather you got a U and got 0 marks on the thing than cheat your way into getting an A, I've never been more angry or disappointed before in anybody"

"Well if you weren't always going on at me...saying I'm not trying I wouldn't have to chest would I?" Holly sobbed

"Don't you even think about turning this round on me Holly don't you dare, I'm sure other peoples parents want them to do well but none of them found the need to cheat did they?" Rachel shouted "did they?" She repeated again

"No" holly whispered

"Get out of my sight" Rachel said "go to the cooler"

Holly was more than happy to get out of her mums sight only she didn't go to the cooler, she walked straight back home and started packing some stuff up.

Rachel spent the rest of the morning trying to organise things with the exam board, luckily Holly could resit the unit so it wasn't going to be too bad for her.

By about 1 o clock Rachel had calmed down a bit, she was still incredibly disappointed of course but she knew she'd been unfair and she hadn't meant to upset Holly as much as she clearly had.

She went down to the cooler but of course Holly wasn't in there

"Tom when did Holly leave?"

"Leave? She hasn't been in here at all"

"Oh god she must be skiving then"Rachel sighed "thanks for letting me know"

At this point Rachel wasn't too worried as she knew that Holly would probably just be at home wanting some time to herself, so she decided to just give her some time to herself for the afternoon and confront her later.

She tried ringing her a few times that afternoon but she didn't pick up, however the way things were with them earlier Rachel wasn't really surprised by this.

Molly was going to a friends house straight from school, so Rachel could leave straight away and go and pick Lexi up.

Lexi hadn't had a particularly good day herself as she'd got into trouble for scribbling on the table and had to bring a note home for her mum to sign

Rachel rushed out the car straight away and found Lexi

"Hi Lexi did you have a good day?" Rachel asked however she sounded quite absent minded

"No" Lexi said as they walked up to the car

"Oh dear why not?"

"Mrs Hughes has been picking on me all day, I don't like her at all"

"Oh well you've only got her till your proper teacher gets better" Rachel said

"But she's nasty to me"

"Well you're just going to have to be a big girl and get on with it aren't you?" Rachel said "pass me your bag and I'll put it in the boot"

Once her stuff was in the car, the two of them got in

"Where's Holly?" Lexi asked confused

"Holly and I had a bit if an argument earlier Lexi, she'd been very naughty and she's gone home because she was feeling upset"

"Is she okay now?" Lexi asked as she always did worry when she thought Holly was in trouble or something

"Yeah I'm sure she'll be fine, anyway it's nothing for you to worry about Lexi"

"Mummy please will you sign a letter for me?"

"What sort of letter?"

"Well it wasn't my fault but I accidentally wrote a bit on the table"

"Yeah fine just don't do it again" Rachel said

Lexi couldn't believe her mum wasn't going to tell her off properly, however Rachel was so caught up with Holly and everything she just couldn't seem to focus on anything else.

As soon as they got home the two of them got out, Rachel was surprised when she saw Thomas was home

"Lexi can you be a star and get changed and put all your uniform away by yourself, I really need to talk to your sister"

"Okay, but I can't do my top button or the button on my skirt"

"I'll do them for you"

When they got in Rachel quickly undid them for Lexi before going into the kitchen to see Thomas

"Hiya rach" he said smiling

"Hey what you doing back"

"Well for once we were overstaffed and they owe me a lot of hours from the last two weeks, so I got to go home lunchtime. I've done all the cleaning and I've even started preparing dinner for tonight..how does homemade pasta and carbonara sauce suit you?"

"You really are hoping to run for husband of the year aren't you? Thanks so much love that's so kind of you" she said "Thomas where's Holly, is she still upset?"

"What do you mean where's Holly? She's been at school hasn't she?"

"You mean she's not here?" Rachel asked her heart sinking

"No why would she be?"

"Oh dear.. I thought she'd have just come here" Rachel said "she was caught cheating on her French controlled assessment earlier and I was absolutely furious with her, I was probably a bit too harsh on her, anyway I sent her away to calm down and she hasn't been in school since then so I presumed she must have come home, I've tried calling loads but she hasn't answered"

"What she cheated? Oh god is it serious then?"

"No to be honest we've had armload of cases like it, the exam board just disregard the paper and she has to do it again with no teacher input" Rachel explained "I was just so angry with her"

"Well I would have been too. So where do you reckon she is?"

"I've got no idea, oh god I hope she's okay" Rachel said "should we go and look for her"

"we can have a drive round, i'm sure she'll come home soon though" Thomas said

Rachel went upstairs and into Lexi's room

"Darling hurry up and get changed, we need to go and have a look round for your sister"

"Why isn't she here"

"It looks like she's wandered off, I'm sure she'll be absolutely fine though"

Rachel then went into her room and got changed out of her suit and into her jeans and t shirt.

She realised her handbag was open on the bed, she'd forgotten to take it to work this morning but she was sure she'd had it by her bed and it wouldn't be left open.

Rachel realised that Holly must have been in it. She presumed she'd got some money and when she looked in her purse realised she'd taken £20 as she'd had two twenty pound notes in there. She gasped wondering why Holly needed that much, she'd have thought she'd have just taken a fiver to get lunch while she was out.

She ran into Holly's room and realised she must have packed a load of things

Rachel instantly began to feel sick, she couldn't believe Holly had ran away because of this morning and she felt like she was all to blame for it

She and Lexi both went downstairs and got there shoes on

"Thomas Holly's ran away, she's packed all her things up" Rachel said with tears in her eyes

"Oh god, right she can't have gone too far, let's get in the car"

The three of them got in the car. Rachel was close to tears and Lexi was sobbing because she was so worried about her sister

"Lexi don't worry sweetheart, me and your mum are going to find her" Thomas said

"Yeah course we are Lexi, don't cry love it's all going to be okay"

They searched round for ages but couldn't see her anywhere, so decided to head for the police station.

Suddenly Rachel jumped when she heard her phone vibrate telling her she'd got a message, but it was only Molly asking if she could sleep over.

Normally Rachel wouldn't let her sleep out on a school night but right now she didn't care so text back saying that was fine.

They headed to the police station, but when they told them what had happened they seemed extremely unhelpful and acted as though it was no big deal

"I don't understand she's 15 years old out alone, and nobody's got any idea where she is aren't you going to send a search party out or something" Rachel said

The police officer just laughed at her "imagine if we did that for every 15 year old who's had a bit if a barmy with their mum so decides to run away for a couple of days, we'd never have anyone here"

"Look she's never done it before"

"Yeah but you say the two of you had an argument...she'll have gone off to her friends house for a bit that's all, she'll be fine trust me, we'll send some of our officers out to ask round a bit and if she's not back within 2 days send a search"

"Well thanks" Thomas said before taking Rachel and Lexi away

"Mummy I want Holly back" Lexi sobbed

"She'll be fine love"

"Rach If you want to take her home for a bit I'll stay out looking for her"

"no I need to be looking too" Rachel said

"Right now you just need to calm down and so does Lexi, I'll ring you the minute I head anything"

Reluctantly Rachel agreed so Thomas drove her and Lexi home

They'd been out a good two hours looking for her and Lexi was getting hungry and tired

" let's get you some tea"

Rachel quickly did some spaghetti on toast for her before getting her to come and sit down

"Mummy when will she come back?"

"I don't know Lexi, but it's nothing for you to worry about I promise"

Lexi was really tearful by now, so Rachel decided to give her a bath to calm her down

This did seem to soothe Lexi a bit and it made her feel quite sleepy

"Mum I'm tired"

"Well how about we get you into some pyjamas and then me and you watch a little bit of tv together and then we get you all settled for bed huh?"

"But what if Holly still isn't back"

"Well she's not going to come back any quicker if you're awake or if you're asleep, so you may as well get some rest darling"

Lexi was still very upset and stayed all tearful up until it was time to go to bed.

Rachel stayed with her till she fell asleep but she wasn't feeling very settled at all.

Thomas had been out for ages looking everywhere he could but still couldn't find her.

Eventually he came back home and found Rachel in tears in the living room

"Sweetheart she'll come back don't cry" he soothed

"It's all my fault. I must be such a bad mum If I made her feel so bloody miserable and scared she thought she had to run away from me" Rachel cried

"Rachel it's not your fault at all, you couldn't help it you isn't reacted in the same way any parent would, it's only because she thinks she's let you down"

"I've called her so many times, I've left loads of messages telling her how much I love her but she still isn't answering. What if she thinks I hate her?"

"Rach she doesn't think that I promise you"

They stayed downstairs another hour or so, but there was still no word from Holly

Suddenly the living room door opened and Lexi was stood there in tears

"Mummy I woke up and I can't get back to sleep" Lexi sobbed

"Hey sweetheart that's okay, come and sit with me and Thomas for a while"

Lexi went over and sat down next to them both and sobbed into her mum

"Darling it's okay I promise, it's all going to work out fine in the end"

Rachel was about to take Lexi back up to bed when suddenly her mobile started ringing

She couldn't believe it when she saw it was Holly and her body flooded with relief

"Holly where are you? Oh sweetie are you okay?" She asked

She could hear Holly sobbing at the other end of the phone but she wasn't taking

"Holly talk to me darling...you're not in any trouble, tell me where you are and we'll get you home nice and safe, you must be freezing outside and it's pouring with rain"

"Mum please don't hate me I'm so so sorry"

"Shhh it's okay love how could I hate you huh your my daughter, just tell me where you are?"

"I'm at Warrington station but I've missed the train, I know it's far away but please come and get me I'm sorry"

"Of course I'll come and get you, darling just stay where you are I'll be there as soon as I can"

Rachel put the phone down and turned to face Thomas

"That was Holly, she's been at Warrington"

" how did she get there?"

"She took some money earlier, she must have got a train"

"Should we all go for her?"

"No Lexi's falling asleep, she needs to go back to bed, you stay here with her and I'll go"

"Are you sure you're okay driving at this time, especially after the day you've had"

"Yes I'll be fine don't fuss, you just look after Lexi for me"

"Mummy is Holly okay?"

"Holly's just fine love, you be a good girl and go straight back to sleep while mummy goes and gets her."

Rachel quickly grabbed her car keys and started the car up

It was about a 50 minute drive and by the time she got there she was feeling very tired

She saw Holly stood outside, normally she looked a lot older than her 15 years but now she looked really young and frightened, as though she needed protecting. She was shivering and soaked from the rain

Rachel ran out the car and gave Holly a massive hug

"What were you thinking? You had me sick with worry"

"I thought you hated me"

"No sweetheart I don't hate you, no matter what trouble you get yourself into I'll never stop loving you"

Holly cried Into her mum for a bit before Rachel got her in the car

"Mum I'm really thirsty"

"Have you not had anything to eat all day?"

"I had my lunch but nothing else"

"Late night McDonald's stop?"

Holly nodded her head at this so Rachel pulled in at the next service stop and they sat down

"Sweetie we'll talk about all this properly in the morning...but I just really need you to know I'm so sorry for being so hard on you"

"I deserved it, I don't know what I was thinking I just didn't want to let you down"

"Oh love, you wouldn't have let me down, it's only one subject and it's only one part of that subject, if you'd have done badly it wouldn't have been the end of the world, I know how much pressure I put on you but I just wanted you to do well for yourself not for me, and I'm so sorry I accused you of not working I was chatting to your form tutor she tells me you were in the form room every week practising"

"Yeah but I've thrown it all away now"

"Well it's a lesson learnt, everyone makes mistakes I've made plenty I don't think we'd be normal if we didn't"

They chatted for a bit longer and Holly was feeling a lot better after a while

"Mum I took £40 from your purse, I'm sorry I just needed money for a train and food and I thought maybe I'd need a hotel but they were all much more expensive than I thought so that's why I came home"

"Well I'm glad you did I was going out of mind and believe it or not £20 isn't top of my priority"

"I didn't need much of it in the end so there's £10 left"

Holly reached in her pocket and handed it to her mum

"Keep it, put it towards going to the cinema or something next weekend with your friends"

"What so I'm not grounded?"

"I think you've punished yourself enough love, I'm not going to add to it"

They stayed a bit longer before heading back to the car

Rachel drove back and Holly ended up falling asleep as she was so worn out from everything.

Rachel woke her up when they were home and stayed with her till she'd got changed and was in bed

"Night night sweet dreams" she said before kissing her forehead and tucking her in properly

Rachel was shattered by this point she went into her room and reached under her pillow for her pyjamas

She'd just started getting changed when Lexi suddenly woke up

"Mummy"

Rachel jumped she hadn't even realised Lexi was in here

"What on earth are you doing in here?"

"Thomas said I could come in, is holly back?"

"Yeah she's all safe"

Rachel quickly brushed her teeth before getting in beside Lexi

"Night mummy love you"

"Love you too sweetie, I know today hasn't been very nice for you but everything's all okay now I promise"

Soon after they both fell fast asleep

Please review xxxxxx


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

Rachel was sat in her office on a Friday afternoon when her phone started ringing. She picked it up and realised it was Lexi's school asking her to come and pick Lexi up because apparently she'd been sick, Rachel agreed but really she wasn't very happy about this; Lexi had tried to get a day off that morning too and Rachel could tell straight away she was lying so had made her go in.

Her daughter had been acting pretty strangely over the last couple of days though and Rachel couldn't seem to think why. However Rachel had been quite distant herself though as a few days ago she'd realised her period was late so had taken a test and it turned out she was pregnant.

At first Rachel couldn't believe it as her and Thomas hadn't even been trying for a baby but it had just happened. She was quite shaken up at first but once she'd told Thomas and he'd been over the moon about it she started to feel very excited too.

They hadn't told the girls yet though as Rachel wanted to wait a few weeks first before she told them, just so her and Thomas could get there heads round it properly.

She quickly grabbed her coat and explained to Chris where she was going and that she'd probably have to bring Lexi back here unless she could get in touch with Thomas's parents, before going out to her car and driving over.

As soon as she pulled up she got out and headed to reception, normally if Lexi really was poorly she'd make sure she was especially kind to her however she didn't plan on doing this now.

When she got there she saw Lexi sat down on one of the chairs and went over to her

"I heard you've been sick" she said

"I'm really poorly mummy" Lexi mumbled trying her best to sound poorly

"Really" Rachel said sounding a bit frosty "well I'll sign you out then it'll be a quiet afternoon for you"

Rachel quickly signed her out before taking her hand firmly and leading her outside

"I've managed to get in touch with Thomas's mum and dad, they say they're happy for you to come over for the afternoon"

"Can't I just go in your office?" Lexi asked

"No I'm meant to be working not looking after you" Rachel said bluntly

Lexi could tell her mum wasn't happy with her but there wasn't anything she could do about it now, all she'd wanted was for Rachel to be all kind to her like she usually was when she was poorly

"So besides being sick how are you poorly?" Rachel asked

"My tummy really hurts"

"Right, was it hurting earlier when you had a fight with a boy in your class? Or when you were rude to your teacher and got sent out the classroom?"

Lexi just shook her head in response

"No? Somehow I thought not" Rachel said "you know Lexi you really should have learnt by now lying gets you nowhere with me, I'm disappointed in you Lexi, I expect better than this"

Lexi felt a tear form in her eye, just about everything she did at the moment seemed to disappoint her mum, all she wanted was her to give her some attention like she used to.

Rachel drove to Thomas's parents house basically in silence, even though she could see Lexi was upset

"Right come on you out" she said when they got there

Lexi got out of her booster seat and followed Rachel outside

She knocked on the door of the house and Carol came to the door after a few moments

"Hey Rachel, hiya Lexi you not feeling too great?"

Lexi just shook her head

"You got time for a coffee?" She asked Rachel

"Oh much as I'd love to, I've got to get back to work" Rachel said "though I could really do with a drink of water quickly"

"Yeah sure come inside"

Rachel followed her in and they went through to the kitchen, carol guessed that Rachel had probably just asked for a drink so she could speak to her about Lexi

"Lexi why don't you go through to the living room"

Lexi didn't say anything but went through and sat down on the sofa leaving Carol and Rachel alone

"Is she okay"

"She's absolutely fine carol, there's nothing wrong with her she just wanted a day off, to be honest she's been a pain in the butt for these last couple of days."

"Oh right so no chocolate and movies then"

"Well much as she'd like that I'm not sure it'd be much of a deterrent"

"Maybe she could do some homework then"

"Yeah that's a good idea, in fact I'll set her some"

Rachel walked through to the living room and found Lexi on the sofa

"Right since you're not at school, you can do some work for me, I want you to do all your spellings and sums and I'll be testing you on them later"

"Okay" Lexi mumbled

"I'll be round about 4 to pick you up so If I were you I'd be on your best behaviour while you're here"

Rachel quickly said goodbye to Carol before going back to work

The rest of he afternoon seemed to drag a little bit and Rachel was glad when the bell went for the end of school, she caught up with the girls and drove them home before going back to carols to collect Lexi

Carol quickly let her in when she saw her and made her a coffee

"How's Lexi been?"

"She's not been her usual self at all, she keeps going from being really loud and a bit naughty to practically silent, she's having a nap upstairs now"

"Well like I said she's been a pain all week"

"Yeah it's just really weird"

"What did she do that was naughty"

"Oh just daft things, I asked her to do the work you told her to but she refused and told me to shut up when I kept asking and then later when I thought she was finally getting on with it i realised the front door was open, turns out she'd wandered to the shop by herself"

"Honestly wait till I get my hands on her, I've had enough of all this. She gets away with far too much"

Rachel finished her coffee before going upstairs and into the room where she found Lexi fast asleep

Even though she was annoyed at her, Rachel still did feel pretty bad waking her

"Lexi we need to go home" she said once she'd woken her up

Lexi got out of bed and followed Rachel downstairs and put her shoes on

"Carol thanks so much for having her"

"Oh it's no problem, I'd have been bored all afternoon on my own otherwise"

The two of them then got In the car and once she'd made sure Lexi was strapped in they set off

"I'm not one bit happy about the fact you've been messing on at Carols Lexi, how dare you tell her to shut up when she was doing a huge favour because you decided that you didn't want to be at school. Don't you think there's days when I don't want to be in school? But everyone has to get on with it Lexi"

"You can shut up too" Lexi shouted

"Hey don't you dare take that tone with me young lady, if there's one person who you don't have wrapped round your little finger it's me and I'm not about to put up with anymore of your cheek"

"I hate you"

"Well if that's how you feel then that's up to you. I can't say I like the way you're behaving very much either to be honest"

Lexi kicked her mums chair hard causing Rachel to jerk forwards

"Ow what did you do that for you silly girl?" Rachel shouted

"Because you're always mean to me" Lexi cried

"You do that again and me and you are going to really fall out Lexi, now I don't want to hear another word from you till we get back and when we do get back you can sit in your corner for 10 minutes"

"But normally I only have to do 5"

"Well I think the way you've been behaving today is enough to earn you double"

As soon as they got back Lexi and Rachel went inside and Lexi went to go upstairs

"Oh no you don't, go and sit in your corner in the dining room"

"I have to go for a wee though" Lexi sobbed

"Well it's going to have to wait 10 minutes isn't it?"

"But I'm really desperate"

"Fine go to the downstairs bathroom and don't be long"

Lexi went in and closed the door so Rachel went through to the kitchen and said hi to Thomas

"You look stressed"

"Oh it's just Lexi" Rachel sighed

"What's she done?"

Rachel told him everything as it felt better to share it with someone

"Oh Rach don't worry, she's probably just having a bit of an off day she'll be fine by tomorrow"

"I hope so I can't put up with her being like this for much longer"

"Well how about I see to her now and you have a nice sit down and relax"

Rachel liked the sound of this so Thomas made sure Lexi was sat down and started a timer for her while Rachel relaxed

Thomas came and sat down next to her

"Thanks for sorting her"

"It's fine, I need to start looking after you properly now you've got our baby inside of you. I can't get my head round the fact I'm going to be a dad, it's something I've always wanted but I just thought I'd never get the chance"

"You're going to be a fantastic dad Thomas, I'm just so happy I'm going to get a chance to be a half decent mum from the start you know, I'm going to love this baby so so much and I'm just so happy it's something we can ..you know share together"

Thomas leaned in to kiss Rachel, he really did love her so much.

"What do you want it to be?" Rachel asked

"I don't mind as long as it's happy and healthy"

"Everyone says that, come on you must have some thoughts"

"Okay a girl then"

"That's funny, I think I'd like a boy" Rachel said laughing

"You never know we might get one of each" Thomas said

"Bloody hell I hope not"

They stayed sitting down until 10 minutes had passed and then Thomas went to get Lexi

He couldn't help but feel sorry for her when he saw her all tearful and looking so young

"Lexi you can stand up now" he said

"I don't want to"

"Well you can't sit here all night can you?" He said

"I can if I want, it's my house"

"Well it's mine too and I don't want you sat round here all night, you'll finish up getting very bored" Thomas reasoned

"I don't want to get up"

Thomas sighed "Lexi what's this all about?"

"Nothing"

"Well your mums been telling me you've been behaving a bit badly, that isn't like you Lexi, you don't like being naughty do you"

"Mummy shouldn't tell you things about me" Lexi said

"Lexi you can talk to me If something's happened, me and your mum want to help"

When Rachel noticed Thomas had been a while she went though to the dining room

"Lexi what are you doing?"

"She says she doesn't want to get up"

"Stop attention seeking Alexis and get up off the floor" Rachel said firmly

Lexi turned to look at her mum, she knew she must be really angry as she'd called her Alexis and nobody ever called her that unless she was in serious trouble

"No"

"Fine stay there then, come on Thomas leave her to it"

Thomas sighed but followed his wife though to the kitchen

"Rach don't you think you're being a bit too hard in her, she's only 5"

"I think I know how old my own daughter is thank you and no I don't, she's got to learn that bad behaviour means consequences, she's only doing it for attention"

"And why do you think she wants attention?"

"Thomas you might be a doctor you're not a child psychiatrist, just leave it yeah?"

In the end Thomas did decide to just leave it, as he could tell Rachel was in a bit of a mood and if was best to just stay out of her way.

At about 7 Rachel called the girls down for diner however Lexi didn't come down so she went up to her bedroom

"Lexi it's dinner time"

"I don't want any"

"I don't care, you can still come down and sit with us"

Reluctantly Lexi came down and sat at the table

Thomas put a little portion down in front of her even though she said she didn't want anything, whenever Lexi was upset about anything she wouldn't eat and that would just make her feel even worse

She managed to eat a bit but left a lot of it

Once they'd finished tea Rachel took her upstairs for her bath

She just made it quick before getting her dried off and into pyjamas

"Right bedtime for you I think"

It was only a bit earlier than Lexi normally went to bed and she felt really tired anyway so she didn't protest and just got into bed

"Night Lexi" Rachel said

Lexi didn't say anything in response and just turned to face the other way as tears spilled down her face

Rachel didn't notice them however and just flicked the light off

Lexi began to cry properly as soon as her mum left, she just wished she could get her to understand but she couldn't seem to be able to.

Lexi ended up crying herself to sleep in the end, feeling really unsettled and upset.

She woke up at about 1 after having a bad dream, she felt her pyjamas were all wet and prayed it was just a night sweat but realised she just have had an accident.

Lexi felt really frightened and upset, although since she'd been living with her mum she'd had a few accidents at night time she thought her mum might be even more angry with her because of it.

She grabbed the sheet off her bed and headed across to the bathroom, she ran a cold bath and put her sheet in.

Molly woke up a little bit later to go to the toilet, when she saw the light was on she waited but after a few minutes knocked on the door, she knew it'd be Lexi in there as Holly would just use her own bathroom

"Lexi are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm just on the toilet" Lexi called back

"I need a wee that's all"

"Go in mummy's bathroom" Lexi said

"Okay"

Molly went through to Rachel's bathroom and when she flushed the chain Rachel woke up

"Molly how come you used our bathroom" she asked sounding sleepy

"Lexis in the other one and she's taking ages"

Rachel felt really sleepy but knew she should probably go and check Lexi was okay so put her dressing gown and slippers on and padded across the landing

She saw the light was on and Lexi had closed and locked the door, which was unusual for her especially on a night time

"Lexi are you okay?" She called through

"Yep" Lexi said hastily trying to wipe away all her tears

"Can I come in?"

"I'm on the toilet"

"Okay, well make sure you go straight back to bed when you're done"

"I will"

Rachel was a bit concerned as Lexi didn't sound quite right

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah" Lexi mumbled

Rachel went back to bed however she couldn't seem to get back to sleep and couldn't get comfy.

About 15 minutes later she gave up and decided to go downstairs and get a glass of water

However when she went across she noticed the bathroom door was still closed

"Lexi is that you in there still?"

"Yes"

"What are you doing, you've been in about 20 minutes"

"I'm just on the toilet"

"Lexi you can't still be on the toilet, come out now"

"I can't" Lexi said and Rachel could tell she was crying

"I know we had words earlier but just let me in Lexi" Rachel said sounding worried

When Lexi didn't answer her she said "love I'm going to give you 1 more minute and then I'm going to have to come in"

Lexi sat crying against the bath and didn't answer her

"I'm coming in now sweetheart" she said

"No" Lexi protested

Rachel didn't listen though, luckily the locks in the house were really easy to twist so she just twisted it round and came in

Suddenly when she saw her mum stood there Lexi began to feel really sick and rushed across to the toilet.

Rachel was quick to follow her over and tucked her hair behind her ear

"It's okay I've got you" Rachel whispered "you're okay"

She held her up and gently rubbed her back as she continued to be sick

"That's it, good girl...I've got you you're okay" she said

"Sorry"

"It's okay, hey you're doing it nice and neatly down the toilet, no mess for me, just get it all out your system.. There we go just, you're all okay"

Lexi felt really weak after she'd finished being sick and leant against Rachel, her face all sweaty

Rachel stroked her cheek gently and got her some tissue to dry her tears

"Darling what are you doing in here?"

"I had to wash my bed sheets"

"What?" Rachel said confused

She then realised the water in the bath with lexis sheet in and looked down and saw her wet pyjamas

"Oh sweetheart" she sighed "you didn't have to do that"

"I thought you'd be really mad" Lexi said sounding small

"No darling no I'm not mad" she said "I think we'd better pop you in the bath though, you're all shivery, though should we make it a nice hot one yeah?"

Lexi nodded as tears rolled down her cheek

Rachel took her sheet out the bath and let the cold water out and started filling it

She was just about to get Lexi out her wet trousers so she could tanks them down too, when Thomas walked in

"Rachel what's happened?" He asked

"Lexi's just got herself a bit upset that's all, we'll be okay though won't we Lexi?"

"Why what's wrong, is she poorly?"

"No, though she was quite badly sick a minute ago, she's just a bit worked up"

Thomas noticed the sheet in Rachel's arm

"Do you want me take that down to the wash?"

"Oh yes please, just wait outside a second"

Thomas went out and Rachel turned to Lexi

"Darling let's get you out of these wet things yeah"

"Thomas knows" Lexi sobbed feeling really embarrassed

"That's okay Lexi" Rachel whispered giving her a cuddle and easing her out if her pyjamas "he won't say anything I promise"

Rachel went outside and closed the door behind

"Thomas chuck these in the wash too love" she said

"Did she have an accident?"

"Yeah she tried to wash the sheets in the bath just so I wouldn't find out" Rachel said feeling as though she was about to start crying now "god I didn't mean to upset her so much, I'm her mum"

"Rach just talk to her, she'll be fine after a bit of TLC"

"Yeah I hope you're right, I'd better go back and see to her, can you bring some fresh pyjamas through she you come back up, or just leave them outside the door"

"Sure"

Rachel went back in and got Lexi in the bath she was still really tearful

"Lexi I know it's a ridiculous time but how about we go downstairs for a little chat after we've got you dried off"

"Yeah"

Rachel got Lexi out and into some pyjamas, luckily her hair hadn't got wet so they didn't have to bother drying it.

She took her hand and they went downstairs and Rachel sat her down on her knee

"Lexi I'm sorry if I was a bit hard on you later, I didn't mean to make you upset and I certainly didn't mean to make you frightened of me" Rachel said "the thing is darling, all this is a bit unlike you, I know you don't want to be naughty, so how about you tell me what's on your mind hmm"

"I just feel like you don't like me anymore. You like holly and Molly more than me because there clever and they help you all the time with the cooking and things like that, but I not clever and I can't help you"

"Oh sweetie have I been ignoring you huh" she asked realising she hadn't given Lexi much attention much recently and instantly began to feel bad.

"I just thought if I had a day off, we could spend some time just the two of us" Lexi mumbled "and when that didn't work I thought if I was naughty you'd have to notice me"

"Lexi I'm sorry, I really am I didn't mean to make you feel like this and you're right I have been a bit of a bad mum lately but how about we go out just the two of us this Sunday "

"Yeah that'd be good"

"Okay let's do it"

Plexiglass thought for a moment, there was something else worrying her but she didn't know whether her mum would be angry at her for knowing about it

"Mummy I'm worried about the baby too, when it comes who'll look after me? Because when a baby comes you're always going to be with it"

"What? Lexi how on earth do you know about that?" Rachel asked really shocked that her daughter knew about it

"I heard you and Thomas talking about it when you thought I was asleep"

"Oh Lexi I wanted to tell you properly"

"So are you going to have a baby?"

"Yes I am love" Rachel said as there was no point in denying it "but Lexi that doesn't mean I won't have time for you, hey I'll need all the help I can get from you"

"Will the baby go to boarding school, when it's little like me and Holly did?"

"No darling no it won't"

"Why?" Lexi asked

Rachel sighed not really knowing how to answer this

"Well because having you and holly has shown me how much I've missed out on while the two of you have been little and I don't want to miss out here too. Anyway I'll have you to help too won't I?"

"But mummy what if nobody likes me anymore once the baby's born because it'll be littler and cuter than me"

"Sweetheart that'll never happen you'll still be my baby for quite some time yet"

Lexi relaxed into Rachel and her her hold her close

"You feeling any better?" She asked gently

"Yes"

"Good stuff, do you think we should head off back to bed huh?"

"Yeah I'm tired now"

Rachel took her hand and they went upstairs

"Oh I need to put a sheet on your bed don't I, I'll just get one out the airing cupboard"

"Or I could just come in your bed with you, then you won't have to"

"Okay then just this once"

Lexi cuddled into her mum properly and they quickly fell asleep

When Rachel woke up the next morning Lexi and Thomas were both fast asleep so she decided to get out of bed, grab a quick shower before getting changed.

She got a shock when she went downstairs and Holly was sat at the table doing homework

"What's all this homework first thing on a Saturday morning, I must say I'm very impressed"

When she got closer she could tell Holly looked completely stressed out about it so went and sat down next to her

"What is it your doing?"

"English" holly mumbled

"Why are you doing it now love?"

"Because I've got loads to do so I'm going to have to get some of it out the way before we go down to manchester later to see auntie Christine and uncle james" Holly sighed, they weren't really related to Christine and George however they were as good as and they'd been Rachel's best friends for ages

"Well you've got all day Sunday too don't forget" Rachel said

"Well I can't do any of it anyway, I'm so rubbish at it" holly said tears suddenly forming in her eyes

"Don't say that love, of course you're not rubbish at it, what is it you have to do?"

"An essay on how Steinbeck portrays dreams in of mice and men" holly said "but I don't even know what to write, it's all so rubbish"

"Right let me have a look at what you've got so far. If it's english your struggling with it's lucky you've got a mum with a degree in it isn't it" Rachel said laughing

Rachel took Holly's english book and had a look through it

"Hey most of this is really good, you've made some excellent points it's just your describing it a bit too much instead of analysing and that's what will get you into the top grades, it's just lacking some structure"

"But I don't know how to structure it"

"Well hasn't your english teacher shown you before, structuring an english essay is pretty easy, you use the same structure each time just PEA"

"What the hells PEA?"

"Point, evidence, analyse What you mean you've never heard if it before?"

"Nope we've never been shown it at my last school"

"Well they're making things very difficult for themselves if they don't show you that. I've never come across a school that hasn't taught pupils that structure, but what about it waterloo road, surely Miss Adams has taught you it"

"Yeah but she's been off for like a month hasn't she? We've had that crap supply teacher who hasn't taught us anything"

"Well she'll be back soon, she's not been very well at all Hols. Anyway with this all you do is you make a point, you find some evidence in the book to back up what you're saying and then you analyse it, pretty simple stuff really. Here I'll show you some examples"

Rachel finished up spending a good half hour with Holly going through it with her and by the time they were done Holly felt a lot better

By the time they'd finished everyone else had woken up and Rachel made breakfast for everyone

"Rach please can I go to Lucy's house today" molly asked

"We're going to see Christine and James remember"

"But I don't know them"

"Well they're very nice, I'm sure you'll like them"

"Please can I just go to Lucy's?"

"Well I'd rather you come with us but I suppose you can if you really want"

When the afternoon came round Rachel dropped Molly off and Thomas drove round to their house

"Mummy when will your baby be born?" Lexi asked completely out of the blue

Rachel had completely forgotten that she knew about it and she remembered that she hadn't told Her to keep it quiet.

"What" holly asked confused

"Erm this really wasn't how we planned on telling you" Rachel sighed "but I'm going to have a baby"

"What?" Holly said again "oh my god really"

"I know it must be a big shock and I honestly was going to tell you I just wanted to have my scan first, please don't be upset love"

"Are you joking why would I be upset it's going to be like the best thing ever"

"Oh thank god for that I was so so worried about telling you" Rachel said

"Oh my god I'll have a little sister again"

"Erm hang on a second who said anything about it being a girl" Thomas said laughing

"Oh yeah I forgot it might be a boy" holly said "mum this is the best news ever I literally just want it to be born now"

"Woah steady on I'm not even entirely sure how far along I am yet" Rachel said laughing

"It's going to be amazing though"

Rachel smiled to herself, she was so glad both of her daughters seemed to happy about it. It just made her all the more excited for having another baby and this time she was determined to do it properly.

Please review xxxxxxxx


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I'm setting this chapter 6 months later, I know it's a bit of a jump but I wanted to move the story forward and Thanks to Pauline for this idea, it wasn't exactly the one you suggested as the girls have two,different Dads and Lexis dad finished up in prison after abusing Rachel,I'm also making a change to the characters and I really hope nobody minds, I've decided to discontinue the character of Molly as I found her character really hard to write after a couple of chapters, so I'm going to say one of her close family members got back in touch and decided to take her in. However I am planning on bringing in a replacement character Molly soon!

It was a Thursday and school was just about to end at 7 months pregnant with twins Rachel was beginning to feel extremely tired. The pregnancy so far had been a lot harder than her other two, she knew this was partly because of the fact she was having twins but she also knew it was most likely something to do with the fact she was older as well. Despite how she was feeling she was very excited and so was Thomas. Holly couldn't wait to meet the babies and Lexi had seemed excited too, though she was still acting quite funny about it at times, but Rachel and Thomas knew this was only to be expected.

Rachel was glad when the bell finally rang and she went to walk out to the car to pick Lexi up as Holly was staying back after school for a revision class and one of her friends was going to give her a lift home, which Rachel was glad about because she really just wanted to relax a bit when she got home

She drove round to the primary school and went to find Lexi.

As soon as Lexi saw her mum stood there she went over and gave her a big hug. Before Lexi could fit her arms around her mum when she cuddled her but now she was nowhere close.

"Hello love, should we get going?"

"Okay"

Rachel took her up to the car and got her strapped in

"Mummy please can we go to the park on the way back?"

Rachel knew Lexi loved going to the park however at the moment she just felt far too tired

"Not today Lexi" Rachel said "we'll go over the weekend sometime"

"Why can't we go now"

"Because mums really tired and she needs a lie down"

"But you're always tired and you always need to lie down, it's not fair you always used to take me to the park when I asked you, but now you never do"

"Yes but I haven't always had 2 babies in my tummy have I Lexi?"

"It's not fair you promised you'd still do things with me, but now you never do. I wish the babies would disappear" Lexi said before bursting into tears

"Hey that isn't fair Lexi" Rachel said gently as she pulled up on the drive

The two of them went inside and Lexi tried to run off but Rachel stopped her

"Lexi love I want a couple of words first, come through to the living room a sec"

"I'm sorry for being nasty mum" Lexi mumbled

"No don't worry about it, you're not in trouble, I just want to show you something"

Lexi followed her mum through and they sat down on the sofa

Rachel got her bag and found her scan pictures

"Darling have a look at these" she said showing them to her "there my latest pictures of the babies"

"You can't see them properly, but they do sort of look like babies"

"Well you used to look just like that too, in fact I have a photo somewhere"

Rachel got up and went over the draw and found the picture

She gave it to Lexi so she could have a look

"Is that really me?"

"Yeah you were sucking your thumb even then look. You wouldn't think it was you though looking at you now would you? But the thing is these babies will grow up into real little people too, and you'll be able to have lots of fun with them when they get older. But can you imagine when you have two little people inside your tummy it's not always going to be very nice and it can make me feel really tired sometimes"

"I know, I just wish it didn't make you tired"

"I do understand love, it can't be nice when you're used to having me all to yourself and then suddenly you've got to share me and we can't do everything we used to, but I promise Lexi once the babies are born we'll start to be able to do more things together again and everything will get so much easier"

"But then you'll have to look after the babies"

"I know but I'll have Thomas to help me and you and Holly are going to absolutely love being big sisters to them"

"Will you really let me help"

"Are you joking? Of course I'll let you help, I'll need all the help I can get, it's not going to be very easy having two babies in the house"

"Will I have to change their nappies?" Lexi asked sounding worried

Rachel laughed at this "no darling I think we can leave that to me and Thomas, but you'll have to help me bath them and put them to bed and give them bottles"

"Mum can I ask you something?"

"Yeah course you can"

"Well do all babies have bottles? Because Gemma told me that when her mummy had tommy she used to give him milk from her boobs"

"Well yes that's right love, that's how lots of babies get fed it's how I gave you and Holly your milk when you were babies but I think that might be a bit too difficult when I have two babies to look after"

"Mummy please can I see your tummy"

"Yeah of course you can, it's getting very big now isn't it huh?"

Rachel then lifted her to up to show her and Lexi put her hands on her stomach

"I felt it kick" Lexi said sounding excited

"Yeah so did I" she said laughing "they've been kicking me all day, it's a good job they've only got little feet isn't it huh?"

"Will I be able to see them come out of your tummy?"

"No darling, I don't think it's something for a little girl to see, but you can see them straight after and you might even be able to hold the"

"Do you want them to be boys or girls"

"I think I'd quite like one of each, what about you?"

"One of each"

"Unfortunately though we don't get in say in that" Rachel said "now I'm really tired so joe about we make this sofa into the bed and we can put a film on"

Lexi liked the sound of this so as Rachel went upstairs to get changed she found something to watch

"What are we watching then Lexi?"

"Can we watch patent trap?"

"Yeah sure, why don't you nip up and get changed out of your uniform then come down"

Lexi went upstairs and got changed before coming down and lying down on the sofa with her mum

"Gosh these babies are moving round a lot today" Rachel sighed

They'd watched a bit of the film but then Rachel started to feel really tired and before long she'd fallen asleep. It didn't take long for Lexi to start to feel tired too and after a while the two of them were fast asleep

Thomas came in a bit later and found the two of them, he laughed when he saw them and took a photo

He couldn't wait to be a dad and was trying to look after his wife as much as he possibly could as he knew how tired she felt at the moment

After a bit Rachel woke up and walked through to the kitchen

"Hello" she said when she saw Thomas

"Hey Rach, you and Lexi were fast asleep when I came in"

"I know I've had a busy day and I just feel knackered"

"Well the fact you're pregnant with twins probably won't help that either"

"No perhaps not" Rachel said smiling

Thomas was about to offer to make her a coffee when there was a knock at the door

"I'll get that" Thomas said "you sit down"

Rachel smiled at him as he went to the door

When Thomas answered it he was surprised to see a rather rough looking man of about 35, he'd never seen him before and he didn't look like the type of person Rachel would know either

"Can I help you?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Thomas Mason, I live here" he said confused

"Where's Rachel? I need to speak to her and I know fine well she lives here"

"I'm sorry but you're going to have to tell me who you are, before I let you speak with my wife"

"Your wife, you're fucking wife? She does get round a bit doesn't she, but then again she always has been a little slut"

"Right get out" Thomas said

Hearing all the fuss Rachel came to the door and gasped when she saw who was there

"An look who it is long time no see Rachel"

"Thomas what's he doing here, get him out" Rachel said almost having a panic attack

"You got me into prison you stupid bitch, all because what? I gave you and our kid a bit of a push now and then. Well I'm out now and I want to see Alexis"

"Over my dead body you'll see her"

"I warned you what I'd do if you ever left me"

Lexi had heard all the noise and woke up and walked out to the hall

"Lexi get out" Thomas shouted

"Ah so this is her" he said looking straight at her "why don't you come and give your dad a hug sweetheart"

He started walking towards her and Rachel pushed him out the way, he reached out to her but Thomas quickly stopped him

"Go anywhere near Lexi and we call the police, now get out of our house"

"I need to see my daughter"

"Well we've established that isn't going to happen, now get out"

"You can't get rid of me that easily...I'll go for now but I'll be back, believe you me"

With that he walked off leaving them all feeling very shaken up.

As soon as he slammed the door Rachel rushed to the bathroom to be sick

"Rach he's gone, you're safe now"

"How could he find us? What if he gets Lexi" she sobbed

Thomas quickly put his arms round her

"Shh it's okay, we're going to be just fine I promise you" he said "I can feel your heart beating, come on let's go and sit down"

Rachel smiled at him and he led her through to the living room and got her sat down

"Mummy who was that man?" Lexi said sounding scared

In the midst of everything that had happened, Rachel had forgotten about Lexi being there too

"No one Lexi, he wasn't a very nice man that's all" Thomas said

"Is he my dad?"

Rachel and Thomas looked at each other, but knew it was going to come out sometime or either and they'd rather it be from them than from anybody else

"Yes love" Rachel sighed

"But how come I don't see him?"

"Darling he's really not a very nice person, he's not the type of person I'd want you to know"

"He seemed really scary"

"Yes he is, that's why if ever you see him I don't want you to go anywhere near him okay, you stay away and you tell me and Thomas right away, do you understand?"

"Okay" Lexi said

"Good girl, you just make sure you stay far away from him okay" Rachel whispered giving her a cuddle

Lexi nodded her head

"Can I go and play now please?"

"Yes darling of course you can" Rachel said

Lexi ran off so Rachel turned to face Thomas

"It's okay Rach he's gone he won't come back"

"He will Thomas, you don't know what he's like" Rachel sighed

"Well then we'll deal with it" Thomas said "come on you shouldn't be getting yourself upset, especially not at 7 months pregnant"

Rachel knew he was right so went back into the living room and sat down.

A few minutes later the front door opened and Holly came in. Both Rachel and Thomas had been very worried about Holly over the last few weeks, she used to be really confident and bubbly however now she just seemed all moody all the time and upset.

"Hey Holly come through here" Rachel called

Holly sighed before walking into the living room to see her mum

"What?"

"What do you mean what? I just wanted to ask how your day was"

"Fine"

"Preferably an answer that's longer than one word"

"It was fine mum, there that's four words" holly said sarcastically

Rachel rolled her eyes, holly sighed fully anticipating she was now going to get a massive lecture about being cheeky and minding her tone

"Holly come and sit down"

"Mum I can't be arsed I've got homework"

"Well it can wait, come on come and sit down on the sofa next to me"

Very reluctantly Holly came and sat down next to her mum

"I'm sorry for being cheeky" holly said half heatedly, figuring this was what her mum probably wanted to talk to her about

"I'm not bothered about that, I'm more bothered about the way you've been over the past few weeks, I can tell something's happened"

"Nothing's happened"

"Darling you've barely left your room, you're moody and sulky around the house, you haven't been out with friends for ages, so come on what's up"

"I told you nothing's up" holly shouted

Suddenly however Holly's eyes started to fill with tears

"Oh dear" Rachel said softly "I'll go and get a tissue"

"No I'll be fine"

Rachel got up and walked through to the downstairs toilet to get some tissue so holly could dry her eyes

"There you go love, wipe up your tears"

"Mum I'm fine honestly"

"Hols there's clearly something wrong. I've had a load of teachers coming to ask if you're okay, they're really worried about you. Your form tutor in particular really is very worried, she tells me she keeps seeing you on your own"

"What so half he teachers are stalking me now are they?"

"No nobody said that did they huh?" Rachel said "hols you used to be able to talk to me about everything"

"But there's nothing to talk about, mum please can we just leave it?"

Rachel sighed it knew by now if her daughter didn't want to talk then she wouldn't

"Okay love, but you know where I am yeah?"

Holly nodded her head before going upstairs to her bedroom

Rachel watched as she went upstairs, she couldn't think what had happened but really hoped Holly would open up to her a bit as she was starting to get quite worried

Thomas came in and sat next to her

"Do you want me to sort tea out?" He asked as he guessed after everything that had happened Rachel really needed some time to herself

"Oh that'd be great if you would love" she said "I've just had Holly in tears"

"Oh dear, it really hasn't been a good night for you then, why was she upset?"

"I don't know she didn't tell me, she hasn't seemed right for ages though"

"Yeah I'd have to agree with you on that one, but I'm sure you'll get through to her eventually"

"I hope so, I'm just getting a big worried you know"

"She'll be fine Rach, you of all people know what teenage girls can be like at times"

"I know but it's just so unlike Hols, she's normally so bubbly"

Thomas gave her a hug before going into the kitchen and sorting tea while Rachel relaxed

A few minutes later Lexi came running downstairs

"What's up Lexi?" Rachel asked

"Holly was really mean to me"

"What happened?"

"Well I was bored so I went into her room but she was crying so I asked her what was wrong and she shouted at me and she hit me too"

Rachel sighed and followed Lexi upstairs into Holly's room

"Holly what's this about you being mean to Lexi?" Rachel asked

"I wasn't mean to her, she came into my room without even asking" holly shouted "why is it this whole house revolves around keeping everyone else happy apart from me, are you all incapable to recognising that I want to be left in my own"

Rachel sighed but knew there was nothing she could say to this and just left with Lexi

"Darling just ignore your sister, she's just being silly she didn't mean to upset you"

"Well why did she say it then?"

"Well because sometimes girls at Holly's age can get very snappy for no real reason at all and the best thing to do is just not pay any attention"

"But Holly's been like that for ages"

Rachel sighed and put her arm round Lexi

"I know it's not very nice for you but it's not for you to worry about love"

A couple of hours later tea was ready so Rachel called the two girls down

Lexi was starving by this point and came running down however holly stayed upstairs

"I'll go" Thomas offered "you and Lexi start your tea"

Thomas went up and knocked on Holly's door

"Hols come and get some tea"

"I'm not hungry"

"Come on holly your mums worried..please come down and sit with us"

"I don't want to"

Thomas tried to persuade her to come down but couldn't so in the end left her

"Is she coming?' Rachel asked

"Nope she wants to stay up"

Rachel rolled her eyes but just started eating her tea

"Mum please can we get a dog?" Lexi asked

"Love we've talked about this, we can't get a dog at the moment, I think two babies will be more than enough and you and Holly too"

"Can we get one when the babies are a bit older"

"Maybe Lexi"

Rachel and Thomas looked at each other, Lexi had been going on about this loads over the past few weeks but there wasn't any chance of them getting a pet anytime soon, especially when Thomas and Rachel both had hectic jobs

As soon as they'd finished their tea Rachel got Lexi bathed and into some pyjamas.

She was going to check on Holly and see if she could talk to her however she'd locked herself in the bathroom and wouldn't come out so Rachel decided to try again with her later.

This was going to be so much longer, but I've had a busy couple of weeks and I've finished up in a rush tonight, I would write more but I'm getting a train and wanted to update before I went but I'll update next week sometime as well, instead of waiting 2 weeks apologies!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Followed on from my last update, just a warning that this chapter does contain self harm.

Rachel had just finished putting Lexi to bed and was feeling really tired herself after everything that had gone on that day, what with the return if Lexis dad and Holly being the way she was.

She was about to head downstairs to go and see Thomas but noticed the bathroom door was still locked and Holly had gone in the bath about an hour ago, she wondered what she was doing in there as she'd never take that long

She went over and knocked on the door

"Hols is everything alright?" She asked "you've been in there ages"

"Go away" holly screamed

Rachel heard the sobs that followed and this got her very worried

"Holly open the door" she ordered

"I told you to go away" holly shouted sounding almost hysterical now

Rachel decided she'd need to go in and check on her so twisted the lock and barged in

"Get away from me" holly screamed

Rachel looked over and gasped, she saw the blood dripping from her daughters arm. She ran over to her

"I can't stop it bleeding, normally I can" holly sobbed

"It's alright, you're going to be fine" Rachel soothed.

She couldn't believe this was happening, it all made sense when she thought about it, Holly had become so withdrawn from everything and everybody, her school work had slipped and she spent more time in her room than anywhere else, she just hated to think her and Thomas had missed all the signs, holly had been so intent on covering up her arms with long sleeves and had completely refused to go swimming with them all last week, but neither Rachel or Thomas had any idea about this.

She helped Holly out of the bath and quickly wrapped a towel around her body.

"Mum It won't stop bleeding" holly sobbed

"Its all going to be okay I promise, here's what we're going to do, I'm not going to ask any questions yet, you don't need to explain anything till we've got you all sorted, I'm going to get you into a dressing gown, we're going to go downstairs and let Thomas take a look"

"No please don't let him know"

"Holly you're my daughter and I need to keep you safe, Thomas will know how to wrap it up properly"

Rachel quickly got Holly covered up and led her downstairs

"Thomas" Rachel shouted

Thomas came running through and saw holly arm

"Oh my god what's happened?" He asked rushing over and sitting Holly down as she continued to cry

"I did it to myself" holly cried

"Oh holly" Thomas sighed "can I take a look"

Holly just nodded her head as she wept

"It's not too deep, you're lucky it could have been a lot worse" Thomas said

Rachel watched as Thomas cleaned her up, she felt sick to her stomach as she looked at all the marks on Holly's arm she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed any of this

"Holly some of these look really nasty" Thomas said gently

Holly just stared off into space not responding to anyone, it was as though she wasn't really with it

Once Thomas had stopped the bleeding he got a bandage and wrapped it firmly around Holly's arm

Holly went to get up and walk off

"Holly where are you going? We need to talk about this" Rachel said

"I don't want to talk about it" holly mumbled

"What so you think I'm going to let my 15 year old daughter cut her own skin and me say nothing about it, I'm going to let you walk around so bloody miserable that you think this is the only way to handle things" Rachel said tears forming in her eyes

"Rach calm down" Thomas said "holly how about you go upstairs and get into some pyjamas and your mum and I will make you a hot drink"

Holly slowly went upstairs to get changed

"Thomas I've missed all of this god it must be such a crap mum if she'd rather do that to herself than talk to me"

"Rachel it's more common than you think and it's so easily missed"

"But why would she do that to herself? How can anybody who has a decent life, family that care about her and lots of friends, how could they want to do that to themselves?" Rachel said

"We need to talk to her" Thomas said taking hold of Rachel's hands "she's going to need you, but you've got to stay calm for her okay"

"How can I stay calm when all this is happening"

"You can't, but you've got to act it for Holly's sake, the more , the more hysterical we get or it, the worse it's going to be for her"

A few minutes later holly materialised downstairs, she was still crying though and looked very frightened

"Do you have any pain?'

Holly just shook her head in response to this

"Holly come and sit down in the living with us love" Rachel said

The three of them went and sat down, Rachel sat next to Holly on the sofa and Thomas sat on the sofa opposite

"Holly how long has this been going on for?" Rachel asked

Holly shrugged her shoulders

"Holly me and your mum know how hard this is for you, but we really need you to try and talk things through with us"

"I've been doing it for a couple of months"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Rachel said

"Because you wouldn't understand, it's the only thing that makes everything feel better" holly said before bursting into tears

Rachel pulled her into her chest and rubbed her back

"Are you angry mum?"

"No I'm not angry, of course I'm not angry, it's just very upsetting for me to think you've been that upset and you haven't been able to talk to me about it"

"It's just a couple of months ago I did something really really bad and now everybody hates me and I've got no friends anymore and I know that I'd you knew what I'd done you'd probably hate me too"

"Okay so it sounds like it can't possibly get any worse than it already is so how about you tell me what it is" she said

"Mum please don't make me"

"I'm not going to make you, nobody can make you do anything, I just really want you to try and trust me"

Holly had finally had enough of keeping it to herself so decided to just tell her mum, even though she knew it wouldn't go down very well

"I sent a picture of myself without any clothes on to a boy I was talking to and now it's got round the whole school"

Hearing Holly say this shocked Rachel quite a lot as she really didn't expect it from her, however working with teenagers as long as she had done, she knew how these things would start

"Oh Holly"Rachel sighed "why didn't you tell anyone before, you should have let me know that was going on"

"I thought you'd hate me"

"Darling believe It or not I was young once too and I know how difficult it is when you're under pressure from everybody else, I can't pretend I'm not disappointed and I don't think I'd be doing a good job as your mother if I wasn't, but we all do things we regret" Rachel said "I know I've done plenty" she added quietly

"But everyone just thinks of me as this slag and I was terrified of somebody showing you and so I just cry all the time when I'm by myself and it's just so horrible" holly sobbed

Rachel hugged her firmly and kissed her forehead

"Mum I really don't want to talk about it anymore tonight, please please can we just drop it for now"

"Hols we can't just drop this it's not something we can forget about" Rachel sighed "but if you don't want to discuss it anymore tonight then that's understandable we can talk in the morning"

"Okay" holly said "I'm going to go to bed"

"Right I'll be up to check on you in 5 minutes then, just get into your pyjamas then I'll be up"

Rachel watched as Holly went upstairs feeling really shaken up after everything that had happened

Once holly had gone up she closed the door and turned to Thomas

"What the hell are we meant to do?"

"At the moment,you've just got to show her as much support as you can, despite how angry or shocked you might be, she needs you now Rachel, probably more than she's ever needed you. And the fact she opened up about what had happened shows she trusts you"

"Thomas I can't believe all this, I didn't know anything about any of it" Rachel said before bursting into tears

Thomas went over and pulled her into a much needed hug

"Rach it'll work out okay in the end, it's just going to be a tough few days"

"Do you reckon I should see about setting her up with some counselling"

"Might be a good idea, but sometimes there might be a wait, though i know a lady who specialises in this sort of thing, I can give her a call if you think it'd be a good idea"

"Yeah that'd be really good if you could" Rachel said "it's just so unlike Holly, she was such a happy bubbly girl up until a few weeks ago"

"Rachel give it some time and she will be again, she's just in need of a little bit of TLC at the moment

Rachel was about to reply when suddenly the door opened and they saw Lexi stood there

"Lexi what's the matter?" Thomas asked

"I had a scary dream and I can't get back to sleep"

"Oh dear, Thomas will you look after her while I go up and check on Holly?" Rachel asked

"Of course"

"Lexi go and sit on the sofa for a little while, I'll put you back to bed in a bit"

Lexi went over and cuddled up next to Thomas and Rachel went upstairs

She went up to Holly's bedroom but when she went in she saw her asleep on her bed, however when Rachel got closer she realised that she must by pretending and obviously just didn't want to talk

Rachel sighed and crouched down beside her

"Holly you know how much I love you don't you huh? And I'm so sorry you couldn't talk to me about all this before" Rachel whispered

Holly still kept her eyes closed but Rachel saw tears falling down her cheek

"Hey no more tears it's okay we're going to get you sorted I promise"

Holly opened her eyes and looked at her mum

"Mum will I be okay"

Hearing Holly sound so scared brought tears to Rachel's eyes and she sat beside her on the bed and pulled her into a huge hug

"You're going to be just fine my love" Rachel said "and nobody blames you for any of us and we're certainly not angry, we just need to get you some help don't we huh?"

Holly gave a small nod of the head

Rachel climbed out of the bed and tucked her in as though she was lexis age again and kissed her softly on the cheek

"Try and get some sleep yeah, and if you need me at all...well you know where I am don't you?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, well night night then hols, we'll talk more in the morning"

Rachel was about to walk out when holly called her

"Mum"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks ...thanks for being nice"

Rachel smiled at her before closing the door.

She decided to get into her pyjamas and take her makeup off while she was upstairs before going back down to see Lexi and Thomas

"Lexi, its about time you were getting back up to bed love, it's really late"

"Mummy did Gemma's mum speak to you at the end of school today"

"Oh about her sleepover tomorrow? Yeah she did" Rachel said

She felt a bit uneasy about letting Lexi go as she felt she was a bit young to be going for sleepovers, but she'd told Gemma's mum she was fine for her to go as long as she was sure Lexi was okay about it

"Can I go?"

"Well if you want to go then you can" Rachel said

"Yeah I really want to go"

"Okay well then that's fine by me then"

Lexi felt quite excited now as she'd never been on a proper sleepover before

"But if you're going to go tomorrow night then you'll need a good nights sleep tonight young lady, so come on let's get you up to bed"

Rachel took lexis hand and led her up and tucked her back in

"Mum can I sleep in your bed"

"No love"

"Please"

"Lexi if I'm going to let you go tomorrow night, you'll have to be a big girl and show me you can sleep in your own bed tonight, you won't be able to come in with me tomorrow night will you?" Rachel said

Reluctantly Lexi agreed to sleep in her own bed so Rachel tucked her back in and went back downstairs

Both Rachel and Thomas were feeling pretty exhausted after everything that had happened so Went up to bed after just a little while.

By the time Rachel had woken up on Saturday morning, Thomas had already left and gone to work so it was just Rachel with the girls today.

She got out of bed and put on her dressing gown and slippers before going downstairs. When she went down she found holly already up and curled up on the sofa. She was glad about this as it meant she could have a chat with her on her own

She went into the kitchen and made two coffees before going and sitting next to Holly

"Morning love"

"Morning"

"How did you sleep in the end?"

"Not very well"

Holly leant against Rachel's chest so Rachel put her arm around her

"You want to talk to me yet?"

"I've already told you everything, there's nothing more for me to tell you" holly sighed

"Darling I'm really worried about you, by doing that to yourself you're putting yourself in danger"

"No I'm not, it's just something that helps"

"What do you mean no you're not? Of course you are"

"How am I? It's not like I cut that deep"

"What and that makes everything okay does it? It's perfectly fine for you to cut into your own skin providing it's not that deep" Rachel said in disbelief

"Well no but..."

"What if you accidentally cut into an artery, what if you got infected, it's dangerous Holly and it stops right now. I care about you so so so much and I hate the thought of you putting yourself in danger"

"I won't do it again"

"Well I want to make sure you don't, so I don't want your bedroom door to be closed at all and I want you to give me any sharp objects"

"What so I'm going to be treated like a criminal in prison then"

"Love it's for your own good, just as peace of mind that you're keeping yourself safe"

"Fine" holly sighed

"I'm not going to go on and on about why this isn't the way to handle things, because I'm sure you're very well aware it isn't, after all you're a very bright girl"

"I'm really sorry if I've disappointed you"

"It's not about that Hols" Rachel sighed "but me and Thomas have been talking and we think it's a good idea for you to talk things through with somebody who isn't in the family, get you some proper help"

"I'm not seeing a bloody shrink if that's what you mean"

"Darling I really think it's what you need"

"Mum I'm not going to some weirdo who expects me to tell them everything when I don't even know them"

"Holly give it some thought at least, and we can discuss it again later"

"Mum it's not going to happen"

Rachel sighed but knew there was no point in going on, her daughter could be very stubborn about things sometimes"

"What we going to do about school then?" Rachel asked "do you want me to speak to some people"

"Oh yeah because that'll really help"

"Well there's been things happen like this loads of times and they always work themselves out in the end, it'll be a hard few weeks but you're just going to have face it and before long it'll all be forgotten and your friends will realise how petty they're being"

"I hope so, mum please can we talk about something else" holly said

"Okay love, I've said all I need to say on it. But you do realise as soon as you need to talk I'm here don't you"

"Yep"

"And if ever you feel like you're in a situation where your feeling as though you might even consider doing it again please please come and see me about it, so we can talk it through"

"I will I promise"

"Good girl"

"Thanks for not being mad mum"

"I don't think me being mad would help at all would It Holly?" Rachel said

"I suppose not, but some parents would have been mad"

"Well it's very worrying for any parent" Rachel said

"Yeah I know, and I won't do it again I promise" holly said "mum what are we doing today"

"Well I could really do with going into town actually but Lexi won't be very happy about that, and then Lexi Is going for a sleepover later"

"Isn't she a bit young for that?"

"Well that's what I'm worried about but all her friends are going so I can't exactly stop her" Rachel said "but she often gets quite unsettled if she's sleeping somewhere new, even if it's just at a hotel or something so I don't know how she's going to cope"

"She'll be alright" holly said smiling

They had quite a lazy day and spent a bit of time round town and they got back late afternoon.

When they got back Rachel took Lexi upstairs to help her pack some things, Lexi had wanted to do it all herself, but Rachel didn't really trust her and was sure she'd forget most things so in the end Lexi had agree to let her mum help

"Right so you're going to need some pyjamas aren't you?"

"Do you have my light blue ones with the flowers on"

"Yeah they're in your draw"

Lexi went over and out them in the bag

"And you'll need your toothbrush and toothpaste"

Lexi went into the bathroom and got them

"And then just socks, knickers and something to wear tomorrow"

Lexi went and chose some and out them in the bag too

"Do you want to take your teddy?"

Lexi shook her head firmly

"Why not?" Rachel asked "you always have her in bed with you on a night time, you don't sleep without her"

"But what if everybody laughs and thinks I'm a baby"

"Darling you're only 5, I'm sure lots of girls your age have a teddy to sleep with. I used to have mine in bed with me till I was 10! And I'm sure most of the girls who are going tonight will have them too"

In the end Lexi agreed to put it in the bag but only get it out at night time when nobody could see

A little while later Lexi was ready to go so Rachel drove her round

She was still feeling quite uneasy leaving her with somebody else though

Once Rachel had spoken to Gemma's mum, Rachel gave Lexi a kiss goodbye before going back to the car

Thomas was out tonight with some of his friends so it was just Holly and Rachel home

"Love do you fancy getting a take away and sticking a film on seeing as it's just the two of us in"

"Yeah that'd be really nice"

"What do you fancy, pizza, Indian or Chinese"

"Can we get a pizza please"

"Yeah course, I'll order from dominos then we can get that nice garlic bread and the cookies you like"

Rachel ordered the pizza and then the two of them decided to get into their pyjamas and bring a blanket down so they could get all cosy

The pizza came a while later and they took it through to the living room along with a few cans of coke

"What do you fancy watching then"

"Can we watch the house at the end of the street?"

"Oh is that the one with that actress who's in the hunger games"

"Jennifer Lawrence?"

"Yeah, that's the one"

"So can we watch it?"

"Yep of course we can put it on"

They'd got about half way through the film and they were both really enjoying it

"Pause it a sec while I go to the loo love" Rachel said

"Again? Mum that's the third time you've been since it started"

"Well you try having two babies pressing against your bladder, see how you cope" Rachel said causing holly to laugh

She paused it and wished for Rachel to get back and then cuddled back up to her mum

It was nice ford them to be having a bit of time together just the two of them, as they didn't get a chance to spend time just the two of them that often.

It was getting really late by the time the movie had ended so they decided to go up to bed but suddenly the phone rang.

When Rachel answered she realised it was Gemma's mum, apparently Lexi was saying she was poorly and really wanted to go home

Rachel instantly got her coat and out it on over her pyjamas

"Hols Lexi needs to come home, apparently she's not very well I'm just going to go and get her, do you just want to stay here"

"Yeah if that's okay"

Rachel grabbed her car keys and drove round

She knocked on the door and Gemma's mum answered straight away

"Oh hi Rachel"

"Hey, I'm so sorry about this"

"Oh it's no problem, sorry for making you come out it's just she was quite upset"

"What's the matter then? Is it just a stomach ache or something"

"Well that's what she's saying, to be honest though I think she might have just wanted to go home. I don't think this sleepover was such a good idea when they're all so young, ive got a few of them feeling quite upset, Daisy's desperate to go home too bless her, but her mum doesn't have a car at the moment so she can't come"

Rachel felt sorry for her as she sounded really stressed

"I can drop Daisy off back home"

"Oh no I wouldn't expect you to do that, it's ages away"

"It'll only take about 15 minutes, it's fine honestly it's the least I can do"

"Well thankyou so much you're a life saver"

Gemma's mum quickly got Lexi and Daisy sorted and before long they appeared downstairs

"Hey you two" she said going over and giving Lexi a cuddle "should we get going, the two of you must be shattered"

The two of them got in the back of the car and Rachel drove off

Both Lexi and Daisy were quite teary on the way back and Rachel thought this might be because they were tired now too

"Oh dear, you two don't look particularly happy" Rachel said

"I want my mummy" Daisy sobbed

"I know you do sweetheart, we'll soon have you home don't worry"

Before long they got to Daisy's and Rachel carried her stuff in for her and after a quick chat with Gemma's mum went back to the car

"Are you alright love"

"Mummy I don't really feel poorly I just missed you tucking me in and everything and I wanted to come home I'm sorry"

"Oh darling that's alright, I miss having you round the house too when you're not in"

As soon as they got home Rachel took Lexi upstairs

"Do you need to go for a quick wee before bed?"

"Yes"

Lexi quickly went to the bathroom before walking out and following Rachel back to her bedroom

"There we go back home in your nice warm bed"

"Thanks for coming for me mum"

"That's okay love, it's no trouble and I wouldn't want you staying their if you were upset"

"I don't think I want to go for a sleepover again"

"No I don't think they're a good idea at the moment, I think you're still a bit too little but you'll go to lots more when you're older"

"I'm really tired now"

"That's not surprising love, I'll leave you to it so you can go to sleep"

Rachel kissed her in the forehead before going out, she checked on Holly and saw that she was fast asleep.

Please review ! Xxxxxxx


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It was a Friday after school, it was quite a strange day for Rachel as she was going on maternity leave, although she was really looking forward to having the twins, she knew she was going to miss it here a lot. Rachel knew that Eddie would be great as an act in head till we got back, so knew everything would still be okay without her.

She'd just finished getting all the stuff from her office before going to find Holly. She saw her in the French corridor with a group of friends. Rachel realised she needed to have words with all the of the before she left with Holly as she knew that none of them had attended assembly earlier.

She walked over to them all

"Ah just the girls I wanted to talk to" Rachel said

The girls all looked at each other, guessing what was coming next"

"Care to explain why none of you turned up to my assembly earlier?" Rachel asked with raised eyebrows

"Miss it wasn't our fault, well not really"

"Why what happened?"

"Well we caught the bus into town at lunch but then it was late back" one of them explained "so it really isn't our fault, it's the bus drivers fault if anyone's"

Rachel still didn't look overly impressed by this excuse

"Girls you all know how unreliable that bus is, there's no way you'd have got back in time for assembly. Honestly girls we'll be taking the privilege of being allowed out of school away from year 11s if you can't be trusted with it"

"We're sorry miss"

"right well you can all do a detention Monday after school"

"Aren't you going on maternity leave now thought miss"

"Yes I am Chloe, but I shall be personally checking with Mr Lawson that you made your way to detention on Monday and if I hear that you haven't, trust me they'll be consequences"

"Can we go home now miss, we're going to miss out bus"

"Yes go on off you go" Rachel said

The girls all started to walk off but Rachel stopped them "girls make sure you keep your heads down while I'm away won't you, I don't want any bad reports, I'll be calling in to check on you all now and the, but remember this is such an important year for you girls so just work hard and it'll all pay off in the summer"

"We will work hard miss we promise" they said "Enjoy your time off!"

"Enjoy? I think I'll be stressed to death looking twins, it'll make this place seem like a piece of cake, but still I'll have lots of help won't I Holly?"

"Yeah definitely" holly said a little sarcastically

"Off you go then girls, I don't want you to miss your bus"

The girls all smiled at her before going

"Come on then you" she said to Holly

Rachel had stopped driving about a week ago, so her and Holly would walk to lexis school together to pick her up from after school club.

It was quite a long walk, but Rachel enjoyed her daughters company

"Mum you look like you're ready to give birth any second now" holly commented as they walked along the lane

Rachel laughed at this, it was true she was enormous by now.

"Well it's still 3 weeks till my due date, but I doubt I'll make that"

"I can't wait to meet them, I still can't believe you haven't found out the sex, that way we could have got loads of clothes sorted for them"

"Well they've still got plenty of clothes" Rachel said laughing

"Yeah but the only colours you've got them in are white and yellow, I don't think yellows much of a boy colour anyway"

"Well if I do have boys I'm sure they won't mind"

"Have you and Thomas had any more thoughts on names yet"

"Oh Thomas really wants to call it Noah if it's s boy but I'm not so keen"

"Oh I like that name, it's cute"

"Well we'll have to wait and see when they arrive, I didn't decide on yours and lexis name till you were born"

They continued to talk as hey walked round to the school, it was really nice for them both to be spending some time together.

As soon as they got there Rachel sat down on one of the seats inside to wait for Lexi, she felt pretty tired by now, so felt like she needed to sit down for a little while.

About 10 minutes later lexi came out, though she didn't look particularly happy

"Hey darling" Rachel said smiling before going over and giving her a cuddle

Rachel took Lexis bag from her and the three of them started walking back

Lexi seemed very distant the whole way back though, but Rachel decided to just talk to her when they got home as she knew she wouldn't want to say anything in front of Holly.

"Girls I think we're going to go out to dinner tonight with Thomas's family"

"That'll be really nice, where are we going"

"That nice Italian we went to last month you know the one that did that lovely carbonara"

"Oh yeah it's so nice there"

Lexi barely said anything the whole way back which made Rachel feel a bit worried

Once they got home the two of them went to go upstairs

"Lexi can I have a quick word love"

"I need to get changed though"

"Yeah it'll only take a second, just come through to the living room"

Reluctantly lexi followed her mum through to the living room and sat next to Rachel on the sofa

"Lex is everything alright love?" She asked gently

Lexi nodded her head slightly

"You seem ever so quiet though love"

Lexis eyes suddenly filled with tears

"Oh sweetheart what's the matter?" Rachel asked worry evident in her voice "hey it can't be as bad as all that, tell mum what's happened, I won't be cross"

"Do you promise?"

"What that I won't get cross? Of course I'm not going to be angry if you're this upset about something"

Lexi got up and went over to her school bag and got the spelling and maths test they'd done earlier out and handed it to Rachel

"What's this? Let's have a little look" Rachel said taking it out of her daughters shaking hand

Rachel had a look and sighed as she looked through it, she knew lexi had been struggling a lot at school lately, but she couldn't understand it as lexi seemed such a smart girl, but she'd onlu got 4 out of 20 for her maths and 5 for her spelling.

She was quite worried when she read through it as none of it looked particularly difficult for someone of lexis age, but she knew there was absolutely no point in her having a go at lexi about it, as she could tell how upset she was.

When Rachel looked down at her daughter she could see how distressed she was about it and she was really tearful by now

"Lexi it's okay I'm not going to tell you off" she said

She put her arm around lexi so she could relax against her

"I'm sorry"

"No you don't need to be sorry, I know how hard you try really I do"

"I just couldn't do it"

"That's alright darling, you don't have to worry"

"But everyone was laughing because I got the worst in the whole class"

"Lexi I know it's upsetting but you know nobody at home is ever going to be angry at you as long as you give it your best shot"

"Please can you help me with some of it tomorrow mummy?"

"Yes of course I will, it'll just be me and you home tomorrow because Holly's going round to her friends house" Rachel said "honestly through don't worry about it, you can go and play now if you want"

"Okay" Lexi said

Suddenly though she wrapped her arms round Rachel and gave her a big cuddle

"Hey why all the sudden affection?" Rachel asked laughing

"Maisy got 10 on her tests which is better than me but her mum found out and she started shouting, but you didn't shout at me even though I did worse than maisy"

"I'm not going to shout at you for something that you tried your best on love" Rachel said smiling

Lexi smiled back and then ran upstairs to get changed

A few hours later everyone was ready to go out for the meal, so they got in the car and Thomas drive them to the restaurant to meet up with his family.

Once everybody had said hello they got sat down at the table

Rachel wasn't feeling that well though and kept feeling really dizzy but she thought it was because it was quite hot in here

Thomas's sister Lucy had two children, her daughter Hannah was 11 and got on really well with Holly, even though there was quite and age difference between them, her little boy Joseph got on well with Lexi

After a while talk soon turned to the twins

"Oh rach you two must be so excited now"

"Yes we are, we're nervous though too" Rachel said smiling

"I bet, it'll come round in no time now"

"We're more or less sorted now in terms of things we need to get, I mean we've still got a few things but I'm mostly just all sorted now"

They continued to talk for a bit longer until Lexi started taping Rachel

"Lexi what is it?"

"Please will you come with me to the toilet"

"Yes of course, anyone else need to go?"

Hannah decided to come with them so the three of them went off

"Rachel can I come and see the twins as soon as they're born" Hannah asked, while her and Rachel waited for Lexi to come out

"Yes of course you can" Rachel said

When Lexi walked out Rachel laughed when she saw her tights were all twisted and she had her skirt tucked into her knickers

"I think we'd better sort you out, or the whole restraint will be able to see your knickers" Rachel said laughing

Rachel quickly sorted Lexi out before the three of them walked back to the table.

They had a really nice time together, however after a while both Rachel and Lexi started to feel really tired so they decided to bed back

Rachel was so tired she ended up falling fast asleep on the way back

"Mummy" Lexi called from the back

"Your mums asleep Lexi"

"Why?"

"Well she's obviously very tired isn't she? It's not easy having two babies in your stomach" Thomas said laughing

"It can't be that hard, I bet I could do it" Lexi muttered causing them all to laugh

Once they were home Thomas gently stirred Rachel awake

"Oh did I fall asleep"

"Yes you were snoring and everything"

"Oh god I wasn't was I?" Rachel said "I don't even remember falling asleep, I was just going to rest my eyes for a bit" Rachel said

"Well you obviously needed it, so how about i get Lexi to bed and me and you can curl up on the sofa for a little bit and then you can go to bed yourself"

"That sounds lovely" Rachel said smiling

They had a really relaxing evening and Rachel finished up going to bed quite early

The morning soon came round and Rachel hadn't had he best sleep, she kept waking up with a pain in her stomach but she just thought it'd go away after a while

Thomas was at work so Rachel had a quiet morning with just the girls and then holly went off to her friends house in the afternoon

"Mum please will you help with my homework"

"yes of course I will Lexi" Rachel said, though she actually really wanted to go and have a lie down for a bit as she was feeling exhausted

"I need you to help with my maths"

Rachel had a little look rough what she needed to do

She was about to start explaining to Lexi what she needed to do when suddenly she got a huge pain in her stomach that caused her to cry out

"Mummy what's the matter?"

"Nothing mums just not feeling very well that's all"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes love I'll be fine"

Suddenly however she got another pain in her stomach only this time it was worse, which made her think maybe the babies were coming

This made Rachel really worried as it was still 6 weeks until the babies were due and she knew that if she gave birth to them now there was bound to be complications

A few minutes later and the pain was getting more consistent, Lexi was really worried about her mum as she didn't understand what was happening to her.

Rachel realised she should go and ring for an ambulance as Thomas couldn't drive her.

She got up from the chair she was sat on and started walking across to the phone, when suddenly her waters broke and a puddle formed beneath her feet

"Mummy you've had an accident" Lexi said in disbelief

"Oww"Rachel cried out, the pain getting quite severe now

Eventually she managed to make her way over to the phone and called for an ambulance and rang Thomas who left work as soon as he heard.

Rachel managed to get over to the sofa and lay down on there

Lexi was in floods of tears, watching her mum in so much pain

"Mummy I'm scared"

"Go and wait in your room darling" Rachel panted

"What's happening"

"The babies are coming" Rachel said as sweat dripped from her forehead

"Mummy" Lexi screamed "there's blood"

Rachel looked down and fear flooded through her when she realised Lexi was right, she feared she might be miscarrying and the pain was getting even worse

"Lexi go upstairs" Rachel screamed, knowing that seeing her like this was not something a little gir should have to watch

After what seemed like forever Thomas and the ambulance arrived, Thomas's mum had come to as Thomas had rang her to take Lexi

Thomas couldn't believe it when he went in and saw his wife and realised she was bleeding.

"Rachel darling I'm here now, it's going to be okay, you're going to be okay"

"Rachel I'm going to be looking after you from here, my name's Tracy" she said "we're going to need to get you straight to hospital"

Rachel was feeling quite out of it by this point and was barely conscious as they got her in the ambulance

"Rachel we're going to need to get your trousers and underwear off, we need to see how far along you are"

"No I can't be giving birth"Rachel sobbed

"Rach if you're fully dilated we'll need to get the babies out, it's the safest option for them"

"You sound like you know what you're talking about" Tracy commented

"I'm actually a doctor"

"Oh right" she said as she eased Rachel out of her things

"Rachel you're going to need to start pushing, we need to get these babies out now"

"No I'm not due for another 3 weeks" Rachel cried

"We need to get gem out darling, you're going to be fine, I'm right here with you" Thomas whispered

"Okay I need you to do a big push for me, right into your bottom"

Rachel screamed as she pushed

"That's fantastic Rachel, I can see a head already" she said "give me another push"

Rachel continued to push despite he fact the pain was crippling her

"That's it Rachel you're doing fantastic"

"Thomas I can't do anymore"

"You can Rachel, I promise you can, we're nearly there now, just a few more pushes"

After what seemed like an eternity for Rachel, she gave a final push and she gave birth to a baby boy.

Thomas immediately started wrapping a blanket round him and cradled him in his arms

"Rachel he's beautiful" he said as tears formed in his eyes

Before long it was time for Rachel to start pushing again and is time she gave birth to a little girl.

As soon as they got to hospital they rushed the babies off to a neonatal unit as they were both quite small.

Rachel also had to have a blood transplant because of how much blood shed lost, but both Rachel and the babies looked like they were going to be okay.

A few hours passed and both the babies and Rachel were doing brilliantly.

Despite being delivered 3 weeks early the babies were still healthy, her little boy weighed 5 pounds 11 and her girl weighed 5 pounds 10, which wasn't that small for twins

"Oh Thomas they're so perfect, I can't believe it" Rachel said as she cradled her babies lovingly in her arms

"They look just like you Rachel, I'm so proud of you" he said before kissing her lovingly on the cheek

"Do you think we should decide on names before the girls get here and we get pressurised into calling them something ridiculous" Rachel said laughing

"How about Oliver?"

"Yeah it suits him" Rachel said smiling "and what about Evie, I've always liked that name"

"Evie and Oliver, yeah I love it"

"That's sorted then"

Rachel smiled and Thomas kissed her again on the cheek

About an hour or so later the girls arrived and both rushed over to see Rachel and the babies

"Mummy" Lexi said wrapping her her round Rachel, which made Rachel wince a bit as she was still quite sore but of course she didn't say anything to her daughter "I was scared"

"I know, but I'm fine now. Do you want to have a look at your brother and sister"

The girls looked over and saw the babies and Thomas's arms and smiles spread across both of their faces

"Mum they're beautiful" holly whispered "I can't believe they're my brother and sister"

"Mummy I want to hold them"

"Not yet darling, they're still very small, but you'll be able to when they come home I promise"

"Have you chosen names for them yet?" Holly asked

"Yes Oliver and Evie"

"Oh they really suit them" holly said smiling

They all spent some time together for a while and by the time Holly and Lexi left Rachel was feeling exhausted but so excited about her new babies.

I know most of this isn't medically accurate, but I don't pretend to know a lot about giving birth ? please review ! Xxxxx


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

 **I've decoded to do a huge time leap, I was going to just start a sequel however I'm running out of ideas for this fic and I'll probably only do a few more chapters and then start a new one. So in this the twins have just turned 3, Holly has just gone to uni and Lexi is 8.**

It was a Monday morning and Rachel and Thomas had just been woken up, Oliver had ended up in their bed last night after he'd had a bad dream, but when Evie had woken up a bit later wanting a cuddle, she wasn't pleased when she saw her brother was in her mum and dads bed and she wasn't so unsurprisingly she had finished up in there too.

Like always, Evie and Oliver had woken up quite early and this meant Rachel and Thomas did too.

"Can't the two of you go back to sleep just for a few minutes" Thomas begged however he knew this wouldn't be a very popular idea, but he and Rachel were desperate to get a few more minutes sleep before they had to get up and get dressed for work.

"Mummy will you take us swimming again today?" Evie asked

"I'd love to darling but me and Thomas are at work today do you'll be at Beth's all day" Rachel said, Beth was the childminder and would look after them both when Thomas and Rachel were at work, Rachel had been really anxious at first about leaving them with someone else, however they both got on really well with her, even though Oliver could still put up a bit of a fuss sometimes, as he didn't like leaving his Mum and Dad

A few minutes later Rachel and Thomas got up to get dressed for work.

Once they were ready, Thomas went into Oliver's room to get him ready and Rachel took Evie into her room

"Come on then love, take your pyjama bottoms off and nappy off I'll help you with the top because it's a bit tight"

Once she was sorted Rachel went into Lexi's room, however she was still in bed.

Rachel had been having a bit of trouble with Lexi recently, she hadn't seemed herself at all and had been quite moody at home and kept getting into trouble at school

"come on love it's time you were getting up"

"I don't feel well"

"Oh lexi please don't start not today, we both know there's nothing wrong with you" Rachel sighed

"My tummy hurts and I feel really hot" Lexi said

Rachel rolled her eyes and put her hand against Lexi's forehead and realised she did actually feel quite warm but Lexi had been pretending to be ill for about a week and Rachel was sure that it was just a coincidence that she felt a little warmer than normal and wasn't prepared to let her have the day off school for it

"Nope your fine, come on up"

"No I'm poorly"

"Lexi please don't make me get angry with you, you know that's not what I want to do"

"Then let me stay off then, I really am poorly I promise" Lexi begged tears filling her eyes

Rachel sighed before sitting down on the bed next to her.

"When did you start feeling poorly?"

"Last night after tea"

"Well then why didn't you say anything last night" Rachel asked raising her eyebrows slightly

"Because it wasn't as bad then"

Rachel still wasn't buying any of this so decided to make her go in

"I think you're going to be absolutely fine Lexi, and if you're really poorly I think you're teacher will be able to pick up on it won't she huh?" Rachel said

"But mum.."

"Lexi no arguments, you're going to school and that's final, so come on why don't you start getting dressed"

Lexi knew there was no point in arguing as her mum wasn't likely to back down, so gave up and got out of bed and started getting ready

"Good girl, now breakfast will be ready in about 15 minutes so make sure you're down for then"

"I'm not hungry" Lexi said sounding sorry for herself

"Oh come on Lexi, you're always hungry" Rachel sighed "if your stomach is hurting sometimes it's just because you're hungry"

"It's not that"

"Well I'm sure it'll get better soon"

Rachel then closed the door behind her and left Lexi to get changed.

As soon as she stepped outside though she saw Evie and Oliver fighting, Rachel rolled her eyes, at the age they were at now, the two of them would often fight with each other and it could get quite stressful at times

"Hey stop that" she said firmly, as she pulled them apart from one another

Oliver was still trying to hit his sister though and Evie was trying to fight off Rachel so she could lunge at Oliver

"I thought I said stop that right now" she said "I mean it pack it in the pair of you or you can both do a time out"

The two of them both kept screaming at each other so in the end Rachel finished up having to give them a time out

"Right Oliver go and sit in that corner, Evie you sit in that one" Rachel said pointing

Reluctantly the two of them went and sit down

Sometimes being a Mum to twins really could be exhausting, Rachel thought to herself, although most of the time she loved it, when they both started acting up at the same time it really could be a nightmare

Rachel went into her bedroom to find Thomas

"I thought you said you were keeping an eye on the pair of them while I checked on Lexi"

"Yeah I was" Thomas said defensively

"Well clearly you weren't doing a very good job, I just had to fight the two of them off each other"

"Oh well I don't know how I didn't see them"

Rachel was about to respond when she heard shouting again so the two of them went to go and see

They found them both fighting again

"I thought Mummy had just given the two of you a time out" Thomas said causing them both to jump apart

"Yes I did, so I don't expect to find you fighting not two minutes later, I don't know what has gotten into the pair of you" Rachel said "Right seen as you can't be trusted to sit near each other Evie go and sit in the dining room and Oliver go and sit on the stairs"

Once the two of them were sat back down Thomas went down to start doing breakfast and Rachel went to finish her makeup.

Once she was done she went downstairs

She was about to open the kitchen door when Oliver called her from the stairs

"Mummy"

Rachel turned round to face him

"yes?"

"Can I finish my time out now?"

"No you've still got another minute to do, now sit quietly like a good boy please"

Rachel was about to go back into the kitchen when she noticed him fidgeting and looking all uncomfortable so guessed he needed a wee, they were in the middle of potty training the pair of them and often Oliver wouldn't like telling them when he had to go

"Oliver do you have to go for a wee is that why you needed to finish your time out?" she asked

Oliver just nodded his head

"Go and use the downstairs bathroom then"

"you said I couldn't finish yet"

"Oliver just go to the toilet before you have an accident" Rachel said

However when Evie saw Oliver getting up she got up too

"Hey I didn't tell you, you could get up yet young lady, now sit back down"

"That's not fair Oliver's up"

"Yes only to go to the toilet, then he'll be sitting back down too"

"I want to get up though"

Rachel sighed; she could tell this was going to be a long day when the twins were already acting up!

About 10 minutes later breakfast was ready, Thomas got the twins sat down and Rachel went to get Lexi.

When she went into her room, she found her curled up on her bed cuddling a cushion

"Love your breakfast's ready, why don't you come an get something to eat huh?"

"I already said I'm not hungry"

"I know but often you don't realise how hungry you are till you start eating, come on let's go and get something to eat"

Reluctantly Lexi followed her mum down and sat at the table

Once they'd all finished their breakfast Thomas went off to work and Rachel got the kids in the car.

She dropped the twins off first at their childminders then drove to the primary school

"Bye love have a nice day" she called

Lexi didn't answer her though and just walked off looking all upset

Rachel did feel a bit bad leaving her however knew there wasn't a lot she could do.

After she'd had had the twins, Rachel had just gone back to being an English teacher as she knew she wouldn't have the time to take on all the responsibilities she had to as head teacher, she was only working part time too so she could spend more time with the twins, in a couple of years' when they were both at school, she was going to go back full time but at the moment she just didn't have the time

It was about lunch time when rachel's phone rang, when she answered she realised it was the primary school wanting her to pick Lexi up because she kept being sick.

She instantly felt bad for not believing her earlier and quickly got someone to cover her afternoon classes and explained why she had to go

She drove round as quickly as she could and found lexi at reception looking really pale

"Oh sweetie I'm sorry I didn't believe you earlier, come on I think we need to go home and get you sorted don't we huh?"

Lexi nodded her head so Rachel signed her out before taking her hand and leading her out

Once they were back home Rachel got her settled on the sofa with a glass of cold water, lots of blankets and a hot water bottle, she put a bowl next to her too in case she was sick anymore

"I'm sure it's just a virus love, but we can get Thomas to have a little look at you later, make sure it's nothing nasty"

"Mum I'm sorry you had to come and get me" Lexi said her eyes filling with tears

"What? Oh love don't be daft, you know I don't mind coming for you when you're poorly it's just when you're not and I have to come and pick you up I get a bit cross, but obviously you're not well love"

"I'm quite tired now"

"Are you? Okay well you have a little sleep and I'll get on with a few jobs"

Rachel stayed with her until she fell asleep before getting on with some housework; having two young children meant often the house would get messy very quickly

About half an hour later when Rachel was in the kitchen, Lexi started shouting her so Rachel ran in

"I think I'm going to be sick"

Rachel rushed over and got the bucket

Lexi started throwing up so Rachel tucked her hair behind her ears

"Sorry"

"Hey it's okay, it's better out your system love" Rachel said "That's it and you're all okay I know it's horrible being sick but you'll feel better for it"

"Finished?" Rachel asked

Lexi just nodded her head weekly so Rachel took the bowl away and cleaned it up before coming back and crouched down beside Lexi

"You feel a bit better?" she asked gently

"A little bit"

"Good stuff"

Rachel stayed with Lexi for a while before going finishing the tidying up

The day passed pretty quickly after that. Lexi started to feel a bit better after her sleep and got up from the sofa and before long both Thomas and the twins were home

They had a nice evening together but Lexi went to bed just a bit after the twins because she still wasn't feeling 100% better.

Rachel and Thomas were just settling down to have a glass of wine when they heard Oliver screaming so naturally ran up after him an into his room

"Oliver what's the matter?" Rachel asked feeling worried

"Bad dream" Oliver mumbled

"Oh dear do you want to come downstairs with me and Mummy for a bit then little man?" Thomas asked

They took him downstairs and he sat on his Mums knee

"There it's okay Oliver it was just a bad dream, you're nice and safe with me and Daddy" Rachel soothed

Rachel continued to cuddle him and didn't notice Lexi stood at the door.

Lexi looked over to her Mum and Oliver, sometimes she wished she was as little as her brother and sister and could curl up on her Mums knee

"Mum" she said causing Rachel to turn around

"Lexi, what's up darling? Are you poorly"

Suddenly Lexi just burst into tears

"Rachel how about I take Oliver and you go and see to Lexi?" Thomas offered knowing Lexi would want her Mum

Thomas took Oliver from Rachel and Rachel went over to Lexi and gave her a cuddle

"are you feeling poorly still huh is that why you're crying?"

"No"

"Oh dear what is it then love? You can tell Mum can't you?"

"Can we go upstairs?" Lexi asked as she didn't really want to talk in front of her little brother and Thomas

"yes of course we can my love" Rachel said

The two of them then went upstairs and sat on Lexi's bed

"Come on then sweetheart tell me what's going on"

"I don't know, I just keep getting upset when I think about things"

"what sort of things Lexi?"

"Everything, I miss Holly loads, and some girls in my school keep picking on me" Lexi said before more tears started rolling down her cheek

"Lexi come here" Rachel said calmly

Lexi went over to her Mum and Rachel put her down on her knee and cuddled her close just as she would the twins

This made Lexi feel better, being cuddled up to her Mum made everything seem okay

"Lexi why haven't you come and told me about how you were feeling?"

"Because I didn't want to make you more stressed"

"Oh love, you know that I'm only going to feel more stressed knowing you were upset about something and weren't telling me about it, anyway it doesn't matter how I feel it's you that's important"

"I just get upset about it all"

"Well it's no wonder but now you've told me we can talk about it yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Right as for missing Holly, darling that's nothing that you couldn't have talked to me about, I miss her too sweetie, she's my daughter and the house just isn't the same without her is it?"

"No, it's just sometimes when I was upset about something that happened at school and it was something that I couldn't tell you about like I'd been in trouble or something I knew I could tell her and she'd make me feel all better"

"I know that must be hard for you love, Holly really is a good big sister to you isn't she huh? And I know there are some things that you feel you can't talk to me about because you're worried about getting in trouble or whatever, but if ever you were really upset you know I'd never be mad. But how about if ever you feel really upset you could just ask me if you could ring her, I'd find you somewhere quiet to go and you could have a chat with her about whatever it was you were worried about and I wouldn't ask any questions or listen in or anything."

"Really that'd be good"

"And I was thinking it's been a while since we've all seen Holly isn't it, so how about next weekend we all go down to Manchester and go and see her huh, we could make it a surprise for her"

"Yeah that'd be so fun" Lexi said smiling

"And it's Christmas soon anyway love, she'll be home in just a couple of weeks so that's not long to wait is it?"

"No I guess it's not that long"

"And what's this about people picking on you, I can't understand why anyone would want to pick on a beautiful, funny and very clever girl like you Lexi"

"I'm not clever Mum that's why they pick on me, I never get the answer right so loads of girls keep calling me stupid"

"Sweetheart you are not stupid and don't ever even think that" Rachel said, she felt really sorry for Lexi she and her have had a lot of conversations over the years about this, Lexi did struggle and it would really upset her

"I'm nowhere near as you or Holly or Thomas"

"Lexi that isn't true, when I was your age I used to struggle so much with my maths but darling there might be a few things you struggle with but there's lots of things you're good at"

"Like what?"

"Like drawing and writing, hey I read that story you wrote for homework, some of my Year 7s couldn't do as good a job and most of your spellings were spot on"

"Really" Lexi said smiling

"Yes really, I don't ever lie to you do I huh?"

"No"

"Well there you go then!"

Lexi wrapped her arms round her mum and gave her a big cuddle

"There all sorted, nothing's that bad when you talk it through with your mum is it?"

"No, thanks for being nice Mum"

"That's okay love its what I'm here for"

Rachel then tucked Lexi in and kissed her goodnight

"Night and god bless sweetie, shout if you need me"

Rachel closed Lexi's door before going downstairs

She found Thomas sat in the living room but he looked really shaken up and his skin had turned really pale

"What the hells happened to you, you look like you've seen a ghost" Rachel said "Did you get oliver back to bed okay?"

"Yeah did you hear the phone?"

"oh yeah I couldn't get to it though I was with Lexi, she was really upset about…"

"It was an inspector, they've found my sister… she's dead"

Rachel gasped, she couldn't believe this was happening, she'd grown really close to sally and her daughter Daisy who had just turned 11.

"Oh god Thomas I'm so sorry"

"They've asked if we can take Daisy in"

"Well of course that's fine" Rachel said instantly

"I can't believe she's gone Rachel" Thomas said as tears ran down his face

Rachel didn't know what she could say to comfort him. She knew how much this would affect all of them for quite some time.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Thomas and Rachel just sat in the living room still in shock, they couldn't believe what they'd just been told and Rachel had no idea how Thomas was going to cope as she knew how close he was to his sister. They also knew though that no matter how bad they felt they needed to stay strong for Daisy who was bound to be feeling even more shaken up than them. They waited for about half an hour and then there was a knock at the door.

Rachel got up and went to answer it and found it was Daisy with Thomas's Mum, both of them were crying.

"Oh Daisy" Rachel said before wrapping her arms around her niece and hugging her tightly

As soon as her auntie started cuddling her Daisy began to cry even more, so much she was shaking.

Thomas had taken his Mum into the living room and Rachel knew the two of them could probably do with some time alone and it would make Daisy feel even more upset than she already was seeing those two as upset as they both were

"Daisy love, let's go and get you settled in the spare room"

Daisy wasn't really responding she was in shock so Rachel had to lead her there

"sweetheart I know there is nothing I can say that'll make things any better for you, but I am so so sorry about this"

"I want my mum"

"I know you do my love, I know you do" Rachel sighed wrapping her arms around her again

They stayed cuddled up for about 5 minutes but then Daisy suddenly became really sleepy

"Come on let's get you into bed, I think some sleep is exactly what you need isn't it huh"

Daisy just nodded her head, she sat on the bed and Rachel went through her stuff looking for some pyjamas, but she soon realised there was hardly anything there, but she knew packing wouldn't have been Daisy's top priority

"I think you might have forgotten to pack some"

"I'm sorry I was in a rush"

"Oh it doesn't matter, I think Holly's taken all her pyjamas to uni though she's coming back tomorrow, anyway Lexi's will be too small, so I think you'll just have to wear some of mine, though they'll be miles too big"

Daisy wasn't really listening though she was just staring into space.

Rachel went into her room and found one of her baggy t-shirts, thinking that maybe she could use it as a sort of night dress.

She went back into the room and found her sat on the bed crying

"Oh sweetheart I wish there was something I could say to make it all better, but I promise you things will get easier"

She hated seeing Daisy like this, she was normally such a bubbly girl and Rachel had never seen her so upset before.

"I really need my mum"

"I know you do love, I know you do" Rachel said hugging her tightly

Rachel stayed cuddling her for a couple of minutes, but she thought the best thing for Daisy right now would be to get some sleep

"Now I've got you one of my tops and we'll nip into town tomorrow in the morning before Holly gets back and buy you a few things okay?" Rachel said, she knew she could just go to Daisy's house and pick her things up from there but she thought it would make her all upset going back there.

Rachel went to check on the other three while Daisy got ready for bed, Evie and Oliver were fast asleep however when Rachel went into Lexi's room she realised she was sat up in bed

"Lexi what on earth are you doing awake again, I thought you'd gone back to sleep love" Rachel sighed

"I did but then I heard voices and it woke me up, is Daisy here?"

"Yes she is love, she's going to be staying here"

"Was she crying? How longs she going to be staying here for?"

"I don't know love maybe forever it just depends on how things work out" Rachel said "and yes she was crying, she was very upset"

"What was she upset about?"

Rachel didn't really know how to answer this, she hadn't wanted to tell Lexi tonight, she'd wanted to wait till in the morning so she could sit her down properly

"Auntie Julia's gone to heaven darling"

"Does that mean she's dead?" Lexi said tears instantly forming in her eyes

"Yes sweetheart"

Lexi started crying, she'd become really close to Thomas's sister over the years and she was really upset because she was going to miss her a lot

Rachel sat her down on her knee to try and soothe her a bit, but it wasn't really working.

"Mum I don't want you to go" Lexi cried when Rachel stood up to go and check on Daisy

"I've got to Lexi, I need to go and check on Daisy she's really upset"

"I want to come in your bed or I won't be able to go back to sleep"

Rachel sighed but she didn't want Lexi to be by herself if she was upset and it was very rare for her to come in with her now anyway it was only if something was really upsetting her that she'd want come in with her mum

"Okay, but I might not be up for a while"

Lexi climbed out of her bed and got herself settled in her Mums bed

Rachel went into the spare room and found Daisy looking a bit more relaxed

"Are you comfy enough in there?"

"Yes thankyou"

"Good well try and get some sleep yeah?"

"Yeah I feel quite tired now"

"Well it's no wonder it's been one of the worst couple of hours of your life I bet"

"I'm just going to miss her so much" she mumbled

"I know love and I know it really doesn't seem like it at the moment but it won't feel this bad forever and over time things will start to get easier"

"I hope so"

Rachel went over and tucked her in properly and kissed her on the cheek gently

"Night Daisy and you know if you need me in the night just come into my room, if I'm asleep just give me a shake and I'll wake up, the last thing I want is you feeling all upset and nobody being there for you. I've got Lexi in my room at the moment"

"Oh did you tell her"

"Well she'd heard voices and woken up and wanted to know what was happening so I had to tell her"

"Is she okay?"

"She will be, but she was so upset when I told her, she asked to sleep in with me for the night so she wasn't on her own. Anyway I think it's time you went to sleep"

"Night auntie Rachel"

"Night night my love, do you want this lava lamp leaving on"

"Yes please"

Daisy still hated sleeping in the dark so was glad she had a light in the room, as soon as Rachel left though she started crying all over again, she just felt so lonely and frightened.

Rachel went downstairs and found Thomas

"Is your mum still here?"

"No she left after a while, I said she could stay here the night so she wasn't on her own but I think she just wanted some space"

"Well that's understandable, anyway what about you? Are you okay"

As soon as Rachel asked this, tears spilled down his cheek, Rachel was upset seeing him like this he hardly ever cried in front of everyone

She sat him down on the sofa and made two coffees.

They stayed downstairs chatting for a while and then decided to go up to bed.

Thomas decided to sleep in the spare room as he knew Rachel had Lexi in their room and he didn't think he'd be able to get to sleep for a while as he still felt quite tearful and he didn't think it'd do Lexi much good seeing him like that

When Rachel went into her room she saw that Lexi was still wide awake

"Darling what on earth are you doing still up?"

"I can't sleep, don't be mad"

"Of course I'm not mad; I know it's hard trying to get to sleep when you're all upset"

Rachel quickly got ready for bed and then got in beside Lexi and cuddled up next to her

She was just about to flick the light off when there was a knock at the door.

Rachel guessed it was Daisy as if it was either of the twins they certainly wouldn't bother knocking; they'd just barge in.

"Yeah come in"

Daisy opened the door and Rachel saw her tearstained face

"Can't sleep?" she asked gently to which Daisy nodded her head

"well you can come and join me and Lexi if you don't mind getting a bit squished

Daisy got in beside Rachel, so Rachel had her on one side and Lexi on the other

After a while all three of them managed to get some sleep

Daisy woke early the next morning, at first she forgot what had happened yesterday and was confused about why she was in her Aunties home but then it all came back to her

She didn't really want to get out of bed when nobody else in the house was awake so stayed in bed until Rachel woke up

"Morning love"

"Morning"

"Did you sleep okay in the end?"

"Yeah"

"Good I wish I could say the same about me, you'd have thought I was a football the amount of times I got kicked by Lexi last night" Rachel said, Daisy smiled weakly at this

"I'm going to have a shower but then I think me and you should go for a walk, we won't go far I just think it'd be nice to have some fresh air, then we can go shopping then Holly will be home"

Daisy didn't really want to go out but she didn't really want to argue so went to get changed

Thomas had told the twins what had happened and although they seemed a bit upset the two of them were too young to really understand what had happened

When Oliver found out that his mum was going out he instantly kicked up a massive fuss about wanting to come too. Rachel sighed as she wanted to have some time alone with Daisy but in the end he finished up coming too.

Oliver kept running off ahead of them though and didn't take any interest in joining in their conversation, which suited Rachel as she wanted to talk to her privately but she made sure to keep an eye on Oliver

"So how are you feeling?"

"Okay"

"And the truth?"

"awful"

"I know you are, but like I said things will get easier. I do know what it's like you know love"

"No you don't"

"Yes I do, or I can certainly imagine what it feels like"

"did your mum die?" Daisy asked, she hardly knew anything about Rachel's family as she never really mentioned them because It was a subject she didn't really like talking about

"No she didn't die, but I still lost her"

"What do you mean, how could you lose her if she didn't die?" Daisy asked confused

"Well when I was little she used to care about us a lot, she was the perfect Mum really she'd take us places, do nice things for us and I knew I could always go to her if ever I wanted to have a moan about something or someone and somehow she always knew how to make it better. But then when I was just a bit younger than you are now everything changed. My dad wasn't a particularly nice man and he used to do some horrible things to me and then he started to turn on my Mum as well and in the end she couldn't handle it anymore and she completely changed, she turned to drugs and alcohol as a way of coping a way of blanking everything out and she basically made me and my sister look after ourselves and then when I got a bit older I ran away, so although I didn't go through all the upset of my mum dying I do understand what it's like to grow up without a mum"

Daisy was shocked at Rachel telling her all this but was glad she had

"Auntie Rachel?"

"Yes love"

"Will I be okay?" She asked sounding very small causing a lump to form in Rachel's throat

"Oh yeah I think you're going to be just fine"

"Can I stay with you?"

"If that's what you want then of course you can, I'd love to have you"

"Thankyou" Daisy whispered

Rachel smiled and put her arms round her as they walked further

Suddenly Rachel realised she couldn't see Oliver anymore and panic flooded through her, she couldn't believer she'd taken her eyes off him

"Oliver" she shouted

She looked all round but couldn't see him anywhere

Suddenly though she heard his little voice calling her from behind one of the trees

She was so relieved when she heard him and she dashed over to him

"What were you thinking Oliver you scared me!" Rachel said "Don't you ever run off like that again, do you understand?"

"I needed a wee, so I went behind the tree"

Rachel sighed

"Well you should have got me, you had me worried"

"But you were talking and I was desperate"

"Well good boy for going then and not waiting till it was too late but just let me know next time even if I am talking"

"Okay Mummy I'm sorry"

"That's okay, come on lets go and catch Daisy up

"Where did he go?"

"He just went behind a tree to go for a wee"

"Oh" Daisy said giggling slightly

They walked a bit further but Oliver soon got tired so they decided to head back, though Oliver needed carrying most of the way

"Right that should have tired you out for a while young man, I'm going to put you and Evie down for your nap"

Rachel took the two of them upstairs

"Mummy I don't need nap" Evie argued

"Yes you do need a nap or you'll be all tired and grouchy, I know exactly what you're like young lady"

After a bit of complaining Rachel eventually managed to get her to go to bed

Thomas stayed home with the twins and Lexi, Daisy and Rachel all went into town

"Mum please can I get some new pyjamas and a new dress"

"If you're lucky yeah, this wasn't meant to be your shopping day, I took you not that long ago" Rachel said although she did realise she needed to get her a dress for Christmas and all her pyjamas were getting too small for her

"Can we go to new look first Mum?"

"Yep come on that's just round the corner"

They went in but all the stuff in there was too big for Lexi, although they managed to find a few things for Daisy

They spent a while going round all the shops and it actually did seem to cheer Daisy up even if it was just for a little while, it took her mind off everything.

They drove home and when she got back Rachel found Holly already home

"Holly, you're home" she said rushing over and giving her a huge cuddle, I thought you weren't back till later"

"I got an earlier train"

"Oh it is so good to have you back; I'll make us a cuppa"

"That'll be nice"

Rachel went into the kitchen and Holly followed her in

"Mum Thomas told me about Auntie Louisa"

"Oh that must have come as such a shock, I know you were close to her we all were, it's going to take some time to come to turns with"

"I just can't believe it I only saw her just a month ago"

"It was just all so sudden sweetheart, did Thomas tell you that Daisy is going to be staying with us from now on"

"Yeah she must be absolutely devastated"

"Yeah she is, I've been trying to keep her occupied, it's as soon as she's by herself that she gets all upset"

"Well it isn't any wonder is it? Losing your Mum when you're that age, it must be so hard for her"

"I know, maybe you could have a bit of a talk with her later, she might find it easier talking to you than to me"

"Yeah of course I will"

"Thank you love"

The two of them went into the living room and sat down on the sofa next to each other

"so how's it going, have you missed us much"

"Of course I have things just aren't the same without you, even the small things like Oliver and Evie coming into my room first thing on a morning for a cuddle and you making me a coffee to wake me up I just miss it all so much but I do love it at uni"

"I know you do love and we miss you too, it's not the same here without you and I know the kids miss you loads" Rachel said causing Holly to smile

"So has much been happening since we last saw you?" Rachel asked

"erm not really just same old stuff, oh except you know Lauren my flatmate?"

"Oh yeah you get on really well with her don't you, she's going to come over during the Christmas holidays sometime isn't she?"

"Yeah I think she's going to come over sometime but she dropped out"

"What? Why did she drop out, I thought she loved it there"

"Well she did at first but then she got really depressed being away from home and everything and I think a load of crap was happening back home with her Mum and Dad so she was constantly worrying and crying down the phone to her Mum and in the end she just couldn't handle it"

"Oh god poor girl, what's she going to do now then?"

"She doesn't know yet, she's getting a job for a bit and she's just going to see how things work out"

"It must be really hard for her"

"Yeah I think it is"

The two of them just sat and talked for about half an hour, it was really nice for Rachl to have her daughter home as things really weren't the same without her!

Please review xxxxxxxx


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It was Christmas eve and everyone was really excited, especially the twins and Lexi who like every child near Christmas were completely hyper, it was the first Christmas were the twins properly understood what was happening, which made it all the more special.

Rachel and Thomas knew that they should probably get the twins to bed as they expected it would take them a while to get to sleep and didn't want them to be shattered all tomorrow.

"Right you two its bedtime" Rachel said walking into the living room, where they'd just finished watching the snowman.

"No I don't want to go to sleep yet" Evie moaned

"I'm not tired yet" Oliver said

"But everyone knows santa can't come unless you are fast asleep in bed" Thomas said coming in and standing next to his wife

After a lot of arguing the two of them finally went up to bed

As usual Rachel took Evie to get ready and Thomas took Oliver up

"right come on you go for a wee then we'll put your nappy on"

Once Evie had been, Rachel put her nappy on then got her changed into her Christmas pyjamas

"Mummy I'm too excited to go to sleep" she said

"I know you're all excited sweetie but the quicker you go to sleep the quicker Christmas will come" Rachel said

"I can't wait"

"Neither can I, I hope santa brings me something nice!"

Evie started giggling at this

"and what are you laughing at miss Evie"

"Santa won't come to you, he only comes to children"

"Yes well only good children, so he won't be coming to you unless you're nice to your mummy"

"I am nice"

"Hmm well you'd better be a good girl and go straight to sleep"

"What time am I allowed to wake up tomorrow morning?"

"You can come into mine and Daddy's room at 6 but we won't be going downstairs for a bit"

"Okay, night Mummy"

"Night night sweetheart love you lots" she said kissing her on the forehead

Rachel then went in to see Oliver and Thomas went to see Daisy

She smiled when she saw him, he really did look very cute in his fluffy reindeer pyjamas

"Night Oliver" she said going over and kissing him

"Night mummy"

"Straight to sleep now okay"

"Okay I'll try"

"Good boy, so I'll see you in the morning, love you"

"Love you"

Rachel flicked his light off and then went downstairs with Thomas

"Mum can we have some mulled wine and minced pies?" Holly asked

"yeah that sounds lovely, do you want a minced pie Daisy?"

"yes please" Daisy said

The three of them went into the living room and sat and ate their minced pies"

Thomas came down to join them with Lexi and they all chatted for a while, Rachel knew she needed to get Lexi to bed soon as she'd often get excited and wouldn't be able to get to sleep

Suddenly though Daisy's eyes filled with tears and she had to rush upstairs to her room

Rachel and Thomas saw her and both felt worried

"Do you want me to go?" Thomas asked

"No it's fine I'll go" Rachel said

Thomas smiled at her; she really had been really good with Daisy ever since she'd been living here

Rachel went upstairs and knocked on Daisy's door

"Love can I come in?"

Daisy didn't answer so Rachel opened the door slowly and found her on her bed crying

"Hey we can't have tears, not on Christmas eve" Rachel said gently

She sat on the bed next to her and put an arm round her

"I'm sorry I know I'm being stupid, it's just this is my first Christmas without Mum and I've just been finding it so hard"

"Oh sweetheart I know it's going to be a hard time for you, I know that Christmas just won't be the same without your mum here, but I promise you'll still have a good time"

"I know I will and I don't mean to sound like I'm being ungrateful or anything by getting upset because you've done so much for me"

"Hey don't be daft of course I don't think that and you're allowed to get upset, it still hasn't been that long since…since your mum passed away"

Daisy relaxed against her feeling comforted in her arms

"Auntie Rachel I'm quite tired now"

"Okay, I'm going to bring Lexi up too and then I'll come and tuck you in"

Rachel went back downstairs and after a bit arguing managed to persuade Lexi to come upstairs

"Mum I wish you'd let me stay up a bit later"

"But you know as well as I do that Father Christmas can only come when you're fast asleep"

"but you, Holly and Thomas are all staying up for longer and santa isn't going to come while all of you are still down there is he"

Rachel didn't really know what to say to this

"Lexi just behave yourself and go to sleep please"

Reluctantly Lexi got changed into her pyjamas and got into bed

"night my love I'll see you in the morning, quite early I assume though not before 6"

"Okay night mum love you"

"Love you too sweet dreams"

Once she'd tucked Lexi in she went back into Daisy's room, she smiled when she saw she'd fallen asleep, she went over and tucked her in properly before kissing her gently on the forehead before flicking the light off.

Rachel went back downstairs and sat on the sofa.

She was just chatting to Holly about her course at uni when suddenly she heard noises coming from upstairs so she decided to go and check it out.

She ran up and realised it was coming from Evie's room so walked across, she really had hoped the twins would settle but it didn't look like this was going to be the case.

She rolled her eyes when she heard the two of them fighting

She went into the room and found the two of them hitting each other so quickly broke them apart

"Hey now what is all this about?" she asked sounding firm

"Oliver came into my room and woke me up" Evie said

Rachel looked over to her son and saw nearly burst out laughing when she saw the angry expression on his face, he really did look very cute she thought to herself

"Well this is absolutely no way to behave on Christmas Eve, if I were Father Christmas I'd be taking some of your presents away"

This seemed to work well and the two of them calmed down

"Right Evie back to sleep, Oliver I'll take you back to your room"

Rachel took Oliver's hand and made sure he went back to bed

"What were you doing waking your sister up huh, you know you're only going to get into trouble when me and Daddy find out"

"I couldn't sleep"

"Oh dear well how about if I come in for 10 minutes, just while you go to sleep"

Oliver seemed happy about this so Rachel got in next to him and cuddled him and after 5 minutes or so he fell fast asleep

Rachel smiled before going downstairs again

Holly gave Rachel and Thomas a hand sorting out all the presents for the kids and then went upstairs to bed

Rachel and Thomas decided to go up too as they knew they'd have to be up early the next morning.

They got into bed next to each other

"I love you Rachel" Thomas said

Rachel smiled when she heard him say this

"I love you too"

Thomas then lent over and started kissing her, before long things got quite passionate and Rachel took her top off

Suddenly though the door creaked open so they frantically pulled apart from each other, their cheeks reddening

Rachel flicked the lamp on and saw Oliver stood there in tears

She sighed and sat up in bed, making sure the quilt was wrapped firmly around her chest

"Sweetie what's up?" Rachel asked sounding concerned

I don't feel very well and I had a bad dream

"Oh dear that's not very good on Christmas eve is it?" Thomas said

"I feel sick"

Thomas was still fully clothed as Oliver had come in before he'd got chance to take anything off, so he got out of bed and walked over to him, giving Rachel a chance to quickly put her top back on

He felt his head and realised he did have a bit of a temperature

"Do you think you might be sick?"

"I don't know"

"Right you jump into bed next to Mummy and I'll get some medicine"

"You going to come in with me for a cuddle oliver?"Rachel asked "Thomas bring a bowl up just in case he's sick"

Once Thomas had given Oliver his medicine the three of them all settled down to sleep

Oliver was very restless all night though and was sweating quite a bit

Evie woke up first and wanted to go into her mum and Dads room but she wasn't sure if it was time yet and she didn't want to get into trouble so decided to hold on for a little while

Lexi had woken up too and went into her little sister's room to see if she was awake

"Lexi it's Christmas" Daisy said sounding really excited

"I know happy Christmas Daisy" Lexi said getting into bed next to her

"can we go and see mummy and daddy"

"It's only 5:55 so we have to wait 5 minutes" Lexi said, of course Rachel and Thomas wouldn't really have minded but Lexi didn't want to do anything to annoy them on Christmas day

Holly had always been a light sleeper and had woken up when she'd heard noises so went into Evie's bedroom

"Morning you two, happy Christmas" Holly said smiling at the two of them

"Merry Christmas"

"Aren't the two of you going to go into Mum and Dads room?"

"But don't we have to wait 5 minutes?" Lexi asked

Holly laughed at this "I'm sure they'll let us off 5 minutes, come on let's go and get Oliver and Daisy"

Holly went into Oliver's room but obviously he wasn't there, so she just presumed he's already gone into their parents room

The four of them ran in and Lexi and daisy jumped on the bed waking them up

Rachel and Thomas opened their eyes and smiled when they saw the three girls

"Hello girls merry Christmas" Rachel said smiling

Thomas flicked the light on and it was only then they looked over at Oliver and realised how pale and sweaty Oliver was

Rachel gently shook him awake

"Hey sweetie it's Christmas morning"

Oliver really wasn't feeling well but he was still excited when he heard it was Christmas and sat up but winced in pain

"Oh no are you still not feeling well little man?" Thomas said

"My tummy hurts"

"It all came on very suddenly didn't it" Rachel said sounding concerned

"It'll probably just be a virus, I'll check him over though after we've done presents just to make sure"

"I don't want to be poorly at Christmas" Oliver said sounding sorry for himself

"I know you don't sweetheart" Rachel said sympathetically

They all stayed on the bed for a while and Rachel and Thomas had a cup of coffee and then they all went downstairs

Oliver was really sleepy and didn't feel well at all so Thomas carried him down

They all had a fantastic time opening presents and Rachel and Thomas loved seeing all the children really excited by everything

After they'd opened presents Holly and Daisy decided to get showers

Lexi went and got changed and Thomas took Oliver up and Rachel took Evie

"Mummy I can't wait to play with all my new toys" Evie said sounding really excited now

"I know you got lots of things this year didn't you?"

"Yes I got loads"

"Well santa must think you've been a very good girl this year"

She's just finished getting changed when suddenly Rachel heard Thomas calling her through

Rachel rushed up to Oliver's room

"Rach he's been sick"

"Oh dear that's not a good start to Christmas day is it huh" Rachel said

"It's on my new pyjamas"

"Never mind they'll wash, though should we get you in the bath?"

Oliver nodded so Thomas got everything in the wash so Rachel got him in the bath and got him cleaned up a bit

She couldn't believe this was happening on Christmas day, Oliver was hardly ever ill and it was just typical that it had to be on Christmas day when he did.

The morning past quite quickly, Oliver had a sleep and Rachel and Thomas made the diner.

They had family come over in the morning and it was lovely to see them all but it was nice just to have Christmas diner themselves.

After diner they had a relaxing afternoon just watching films

It got to about 7 and everyone was feeling really tired and Rachel and Thomas were getting more and more worried about Oliver

He'd slept through most of the day as he hadn't felt well at all, everyone felt really sorry for him feeling poorly on Christmas day

"Rach I'm going to examine him, see if we need to take him to the urgent care centre, I thought it was just a virus but I'm not so sure anymore"

"Okay, oh I feel so sorry for him it's the first Christmas he'll really remember and it's ended up like this huh"

"He's still had a really nice time though Rachel and maybe we could have a sort of second Christmas just for him"

"Yeah he'd like that" Rachel said "I'll come with you while you have a look at him"

The two of them went upstairs and into Oliver's room where they found him fast asleep and dripping in sweat

"Oliver love, daddy's going to have a little look at you, see what we can do to make you better"

"Mummy I don't feel well"

"I know love, it's horrible especially at Christmas but we need to get you better love"

Thomas felt his tummy and when he felt a particular area it caused him to scream out

"I'm sorry little man I don't mean to hurt you"

"Are you finished now" Oliver sobbed

"Yes Oliver I'm all finished now"

Rachel could tell Thomas was concerned by the look on his face but didn't want to get oliver worried

"Oliver you're due some more medicine me and Daddy will just go and get it for you"

Rachel and Thomas went outside and Thomas took Rachel into their room

"I'm not certain Rachel but it looks like it's appendicitis"

"Oh no, so we'll have to get him to hospital straight away, should I call an ambulance?" Rachel said immediately going in to panic mode

"no it'll be quicker to drive, should I just go myself?"

"No way I need to be with him"

"okay I'll call my mum to look after the girls"

"Right you take Oliver and I'll join you down at the hospital soon as your mum gets here"

"What a way to finish Christmas day huh down at A&E"

"well it wouldn't be a proper mason Christmas unless there was some drama along the way" Rachel sighed

The two of them were both extremely worried about Oliver and prayed he'd be okay

So sorry this is shorter than usual, but this story will be continued in my next update, I've been so busy so haven't really had a lot of time to write.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I know I haven't updated this in ages, but I've had a few ideas so decided to try them out. This is set a couple of years later.

It was a Friday morning and everyone had just woken up and was getting ready for school.

After helping the twins get changed Rachel went over to Lexi's room and knocked on the door, she'd been having quite a few problems with Lexi , she seemed really argumentative around the house and she kept getting into trouble at school, although both Rachel and Thomas had tried talking to her about it on quite a few occasions Lexi insisted that there was nothing the matter and just said she didn't want to talk about it with them, so they hadn't pushed it

When Lexi didn't respond to her knock Rachel decided just to go in anyway

She went in and was surprised to see Lexi using her best lipstick.

As soon as Lexi saw her mum looking at her she jumped and a guilty look spread across her face

"Lexi what on earth are you doing with that, you know you're not allowed to use my makeup without my permission and especially not for going to school in!"

"But mum that's so unfair, all the other girls wear makeup"

"And you know that when you're going out with friends for a special occasion I always let you wear a tiny bit but not for going to school" Rachel said sounding quite stern

Rachel then looked closely at Lexi and realised that she was also wearing badly applied foundation and she'd stuffed her crop top with tissue

Rachel sighed before going over to her

"I think we need to make a few more adjustments don't we" she said "take the tissue out and I'll get a makeup wipe for the foundation"

To Rachel's surprise Lexi's eyes suddenly filled with tears and she ran out of the room

There'd been a few incidents like this over the last few weeks where Lexi would get really upset for pretty much no reason at all

Rachel gave her a few minutes and then decided to go and find her

She bumped into Evie on the landing

"Evie have you seen Lexi anywhere love?"

"Yes"

"Where did she go?"

"She was crying"

"I know Evie, but did you see where she went?"

"well she tried to get in the bathroom but Oliver was in there so I think she went to your bathroom"

"Alright thanks love, are you all ready for school"

"Yes nearly"

"good girl"

Rachel walked into her room and realised that Lexi must be in there as the bathroom door was shut

"Lexi come out" she said

Reluctantly Lexi opened the door and walked out

"Hey now what are all those tears for huh, I wasn't shouting at you love I just didn't think it was a good idea to go to school like that"

"I know, I don't know why I'm crying" Lexi said "its just so unfair, all the other girls look so grown up and I still look like a baby"

"now that's not true, you don't look like a baby at all, but you're only 11 Lexi, I wouldn't want you looking like a teenager just yet"

"I know, sorry"

"There's nothing to be sorry for, come on let's get you sorted and get you ready for school"

Rachel went into her bathroom and found her makeup wipes and quickly cleaned lexis face up

"There we go all sorted"

"Mum can I ask you something"

"Of course"

"Do I look spotty?"

"What? Oh love of course you don't, you've got a couple of spots like just about every girl your age, it's not something anyone would even notice"

"Really"

"Yes I promise you love"

A few minutes later Lexi seemed to have cheered up a bit so Rachel got everyone sat down for breakfast

"Mum we're going to watch a show today at school, they're coming to do it on the stage"

"Oh really that'll be good, are you going to watch it too Lexi?" Rachel asked

"No I'm not a little kid" Lexi snapped

Rachel sighed, she thought Lexi had stopped with her little mood now

"I was only asking, I thought maybe the whole school was watching"

"Well they're not it's just for reception"

"Lexi just watch your tone a bit will you, try and be a bit nicer"

"I am being nice you're just being annoying"

"Lexi I'm warning you"

"But I'm not doing anything" Lexi screamed

"Hey don't you shout at me like that young lady"

"I'll shout at who I want"

Lexi kept on answering back to Rachel and in the end Rachel had, had enough of it so decided to send her out

"Lexi go and stand outside please" she said calmly

"I'm not a baby you can't just send me out the room anymore"

"Oh yes I can if you're acting like one, now go and stand outside I won't ask again Lexi"

Lexi didn't dare argue with her mum so went outside

As soon as she stood outside she felt tears forming in her eyes again, she was annoyed about this as she couldn't understand why she was upset all the time, she hadn't meant to shout at her mum either she'd just felt angry all of a sudden and taken it out on her

"Mummy why did Lexi shout at you?" Oliver asked

"I don't know she's just in a funny mood"

"Is she in trouble?"

"Yes she is, I hope neither of you will ever shout at mummy like that"

A few minutes later Rachel went out to go and check on her, she could tell she'd been crying again but didn't want to bring this up as she knew she'd be feeling embarrassed about it

"Are you feeling a bit calmer?"

Lexi just nodded her head to this

"Honestly Lexi I don't know where all this attitude has come from all of a sudden" Rachel sighed

"Sorry" Lexi mumbled

"Okay well go and finish your breakfast"

"I'm not that hungry, I'm just going to go up to my room"

Rachel watched as she went upstairs, she couldn't help but feel worried about her at the moment as all this was quite unlike Lexi

Eventually they were all in the car on the way to school

It wasn't the calmest of rides as Lexi barely spoke and the twins were fighting the whole way down so Rachel was quite relieved when they got to school and she could drop them all off

It was about half way through the day when Rachel got a call from school saying she had to pick Lexi up because apparently there had been an incident

Rachel sighed heavily wondering what had gone on

She drove to the school as quickly as she could and went to reception, where she was told she needed to see the headmistress

She went in and sat down opposite her

"hello mrs mason I just wanted to call you in to have a chat about Lexi, there's been some trouble"

"Well I'm really sorry to hear that" Rachel said looking daggers at her daughter who was sat beside her

"Maybe I should explain what's been going on, unless you'd like to Lexi?" she asked wanting to give Lexi the opportunity to explain things herself

Lexi just shook her head and stared at the ground

"Okay, well over the last few weeks we've all been noticing things haven't been quite right, she just seems very argumentative and moody which as you know isn't like Lexi at all, but today her behaviours been completely out of hand, she's been heard swearing at one of the girls in her class and she's been disruptive all morning and at break time she decided to absconder, we found her walking to the shop on her own, how she managed to get out is beyond me, we make sure all the gates are locked"

"Well you obviously didn't check them very well because the back gate was open" Lexi said cheekily

Mrs Mitchell was about to reply but Rachel got there first

"Don't you dare talk like that to Mrs Mitchell Lexi" Rachel said sounding quite scary "Apologise right now"

"sorry"

A little while later the two of them left

Now she was alone with her mum, Lexi felt scared as she knew that she wasn't going to be let off lightly

Rachel didn't say anything till they were both sat in the car

"how could you behave like that Lexi, I'm so ashamed of you right now"

"I didn't mean to"

"What do you mean you didn't mean to? You're 11 years old, you are in control of your own behaviour young lady"

Lexi didn't say anything in response

"I just don't get it Lexi, you can be a bit naughty occasionally granted but you're behaviour over the last 2 weeks has been awful and now there's what's happened today as well, I just don't understand where all this is coming from"

"Sorry"

"sorry isn't good enough Lexi" Rachel shouted "I need answers"

Lexi started to cry, she hated being in trouble but she could understand why her mum was so annoyed

"I don't know why I did it"

"Lexi you don't just behave like that for no reason"

"I said I'm sorry" Lexi sobbed

"Yes and I said that sorry isn't good enough, Lexi just tell me why you did it"

"I just did"

Rachel sighed heavily

"Fine, but don't expect you're going to be having a nice afternoon, you can come to work with me and I'll put you in a year 7 class for the afternoon"

"But I'm only in year 6"

"Well I'm sure you'll cope, and maybe you should have thought about that before getting yourself into this much trouble"

Once they were at school Lexi followed her mum inside, Rachel decided to out her in a maths lesson as she knew it was one of Lexi's least favourite subjects

She had a quick word with the teacher before dropping Lexi off inside

A couple of hours passed and Lexi felt really upset, all the kids were laughing at her because she was from primary school and she couldn't do any of the work. In the end she couldn't take it anymore and put her hand in the air and asked if she could go to the toilet

Lexi ran out and went into the toilets, she burst into tears and hid in one of the cubicles, deciding she'd just stay in there for the rest of the day

About an hour had past and suddenly Lexi heard a knock

"Lexi is that you in there" Rachel said

Slowly Lexi opened the door and faced her mum

"so you've decided to skip some more school today Lexi huh?"

"Mum I …"

"Lexi I don't want to hear it, mr Thompson said that you asked to go to the toilet and just didn't come back"

"I just didn't feel very well"

"Really" Rachel said raising her eyebrows "well in that case don't even think you're going to Jenny's sleepover tonight, I'll ring her mum and explain you can't go"

"Okay" Lexi mumbled

"You're grounded for the next 2 weeks Lexi, is that understood?"

"Yes mum"

"Right come with me we need to pick the twins up"

Lexi followed her mum out to the car and sat in the back, she'd normally sit in the front next to her mum but today she didn't think this was a good idea, she felt all tearful the whole way there and her stomach had started to really hurt her

"Wait in the car while I get your brother and sister" Rachel said still sounding quite cold

About 10 minutes later Rachel came back to the car with Oliver and Evie

She got them strapped in and then drove off

"Lexi you've been crying" Evie said

"No I haven't" Lexi said her cheeks flushing

"Yes you have"

"No I haven't" Lexi shouted "shut up will you"

"Hey don't you dare speak to your sister like that" Rachel said

"I wish you'd shut up too"

Lexi felt bad as soon as she said it as she hadn't meant to say that

Rachel decided not to shout back as she knew this wouldn't help the situation

"I think we'll make it 3 weeks of you being grounded Lexi"

Lexi didn't say anything to this just stared out the window

"Mummy I need a wee" Evie said

"Darling you're going to have to wait I'm afraid, we'll be home soon"

"But I'm desperate I haven't been all afternoon" she said sounding quite worried

"Well why on earth didn't you go at school then?" Rachel snapped, she hadn't meant to speak so harshly to her it was just all the stuff with Lexi today had really stressed her out

"I didn't want to ask to go during the play"

"Well just try your best to hold on"

Rachel drove back as quickly as she could as she could tell she was desperate.

She sighed when she saw the tesco delivery man was at the house already, she hadn't been expecting him till a bit later

She gave Lexi her keys to open the door so she could sort the delivery out

Lexi unlocked the door Lexi still wasn't feeling very well and just wanted to get into her pyjamas and relax for a bit but she knew that Rachel wouldn't let her do this

She sat down on her bed and started to cry

A couple of minutes later Evie came in

"Go away" she screamed embarrassed that her little sister had seen her crying

Evie felt upset that Lexi had shouted at her and ran downstairs to her mum, who was just putting the shopping away

"What's the matter love?"

"Lexi shouted at me"

"oh sweetheart I wouldn't let that bother you she's been shouting at everyone today"

"She was crying when I saw her"

"well maybe we should just give her a bit of time then"

About 30 minutes later Lexi came downstairs, she wanted to have a word with her mum on her own but when she went into the living room she found her with Evie on her lap

"I think you owe Evie an apology Lexi"

"well if people didn't barge in on me all the time I wouldn't have to shout" Lexi screamed before running back upstairs

She didn't know why she felt like this all the time, but she hated it

She laid down on her bed and had another cry to herself, her stomach was hurting quite a lot now and she couldn't understand why

Lexi spent most of the night in her bedroom, at about 6 she heard a knock on her door

"Go away mum"

"It's not mum it's Thomas, can I come in"

"Yeah"

Thomas came in and couldn't help but feel sorry for Lexi; her face was bright red from all her tears

"Your mum's told me what's happened today, she's not very happy is she Lexi"

"No" Lexi whispered

"do you want to talk about it? I'm not going to shout"

Lexi shook her head but when Thomas sat next to her she couldn't help but let a few more tears escape

"Hey it's okay" Thomas said putting an arm round her

"Thomas does mum hate me?"

"No Lexi she's just a bit angry, but she could never hate you"

"She's mad at me though isn't she"

"Well she is a bit yeah, but she'll get over it soon enough, now how about you come and have some tea"

"I'm not that hungry"

"It's spaghetti bolognaise, you're favourite, just come and try a little bit"

"Okay"

Lexi and Thomas went downstairs and sat down at the table

The twins had already eaten and were watching a bit of TV before bed so it was just the three of them

"Mum I'm really sorry about today"

"so you should be"

"Rachel" Thomas said

"what?"

"I just think you're being a bit harsh on her, she's said she's sorry"

"Well she needs to try showing it, it's just one thing after another"

Lexi had only eaten a little bit when her stomach started to really hurt, she thought she maybe had to go to the toilet or be sick

"Mum please can I leave the table, I don't feel that well"

"No you can finish your tea off, and if you don't want it you can sit till we've finished ours"

Lexi sat for a bit longer but her stomach ache was getting worse

"Mum I really don't feel well"

"Lexi I've already told you to stay put"

"my stomach really hurts, I think I need to go to the toilet" Lexi said her cheeks turning red

"Okay then" Rachel said feeling a bit bad for not letting her leave earlier, she just hadn't believed her

When she'd left Thomas turned to face Rachel

"Do you think she's okay, do you want me to go and check on her"

"She'll be okay, she won't want a big fuss made I'll go and see her after tea"

After they'd eaten Rachel went upstairs and went into Lexi's room

"Do you feel any better"

Lexi shook her head

"When did the stomach ache come on huh?"

"earlier on"

"Do you need some painkillers"

"I've just taken some"

"You know you're meant to ask me or Thomas first Lexi" Rachel said but she didn't sound too cross

"Sorry"

"Okay well are you going to just have a lie down for a bit"

Rachel left her for a bit and Lexi decided to get changed into her pyjamas

She read her book for a couple of hours but then got really tired and ended up going to sleep

Rachel came up at about 9.30 to check up on her but by this point Lexi was asleep so Rachel just straightened up the covers and gave her a gentle kiss, she was starting to feel really bad about everything that had happened now

Lexi woke up in the middle of the night, her stomach was still hurting so she went across to the bathroom, when she looked she saw there was blood on her pyjama bottoms, she started to panic as she wasn't expecting her period this early and she felt terrified by it all

She started to sob as she felt really scared and didn't have a clue what to do

After a couple of minutes Thomas came across to the bathroom as he'd heard someone crying

"is everything okay in there?" he asked

Lexi opened the door and Thomas was shocked when he saw how upset she clearly was

"Thomas I need my mum" Lexi sobbed

"Lexi what's happened darling tell me what's wrong"

"I really really need mum" Lexi cried

"Okay I'll go and wake her up"

Thomas ran across and woke Rachel up who went across the landing to see Lexi

"Lexi" she said her voice full of concern

"mum" Lexi said before wrapping her arms tightly around Rachel and sobbing hysterically

"Hey what's happened, what's the matter?"

"Mum I'm really sorry about earlier, please don't be mad I'm just really scared don't leave me"

Rachel sighed and brought Lexi into a proper cuddle

"sweetheart no matter how cross I was earlier I'm still not going to leave you when you're this upset"

Lexi had got so worked up about everything she'd started breathing really rapidly

"Lexi come on deep breathes, I'm right here it's all okay"

Rachel eventually managed to calm Lexi down so the two of them went through to Lexi's room

"Mum I'm really scared"

"Darling you've got to tell me what's happened whatever it is it'll be okay"

"When I went to the toilet, there was blood on my pyjama bottoms"

"are you trying to tell me you think you might have started your periods?"

"Yes"

"Okay love, it's all okay, we're going to have a talk and it'll all be alright, first lets just get you sorted yes"

Once Lexi had sorted herself out Rachel took her downstairs and made her a hot chocolate

"Drink this up darling"

"Mum I didn't think it would happen for ages"

"I know you are pretty young I guess, I know it's a shock but you get used to it I promise" Rachel said "That'll be what was causing your stomach ache earlier and all the mood swings you've been having lately probably have something to do with this"

"I just keep getting angry but I don't know why and then I feel really bad for it"

"I know love, it's just your hormones that's all and I'm sorry for being so hard on you earlier"

"It's okay"

"The thing is my love, you can't let everything get on top of you, you've got to find a way to control your emotions or you're just going to end up getting into trouble, hey if I lashed out every time I felt a bit stressed I'd be ending up in prison"

"I am really sorry"

"I know you are Lexi, I think for now we should forget it ever happened okay?"

Lexi nodded her head and Rachel brought her on for a cuddle

This made Lexi feel tearful all over again though and she started sobbing into her Mums chest

"shh its okay love" Rachel soothed "You must be exhausted so how about I sort out a hot water bottle and we get you back up to bed"

"Yeah that'd be nice"

Lexi waited on her bedroom and a few minutes later Rachel came in

When she saw Lexi in bed she couldn't help but think how young she looked, she went over and sat on her bed

"you feeling a bit better?" she asked

"Yeah"

"Good girl, come on then time for sleep"

Rachel kissed her on the forehead before getting up

"Mum thanks for being so… nice"

"That's okay I can't be a monster all the time can I" Rachel joked before flicking the light off and going back to bed


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It was Tuesday morning and It was the last day of school before the summer holidays and everyone was ready for a bit of time off, they were going to Spain in a week's time which they were all really excited about.

Rachel had left the house earlier than normal as she had a lot of things to sort out before school broke up for the holidays, luckily however Thomas had a day off so he was dropping the kids off at school.

Lexi didn't feel like going in today even though it was her last day at primary school, she'd had a really bad stomach ache ever since she'd started her period on Friday and she was feeling really low at the moment because it was still all a bit of a shock for her.

She decided to go and ask Thomas if she could have the day off as he'd always been a lot softer than her mum about things like this

Thomas was downstairs making breakfast but he turned round when he saw Lexi come in

"Lexi shouldn't you be in your school uniform by now?" Thomas asked

"Thomas I don't feel that well"

Thomas sighed, Rachel had told him about Lexi starting her period but he knew she wouldn't be very happy if he let Lexi have the day off school because of it

"What's the matter?"

"erm you know just girl stuff" Lexi mumbled blushing red

"have you got a bad stomach" He asked

Lexi nodded her head

"I'll get you some paracetamol, that should help" Thomas said "I know it's awful having to go to school when you're feeling like this, but it's the last day"

"Yeah I know, I just want today to be over"

"It will be before long, now go and get ready breakfast will be ready soon"

Reluctantly Lexi went upstairs and got changed into her uniform

Before long they were all ready for school so Thomas got them all in the car and they set off

The day went by really quickly and before long it was time to pick the kids up

Rachel was so glad it was the holidays and she could finally relax for a bit, even though she knew she'd have to come in to school for a few meetings and things over the holidays she was determined to have some nice time to herself and with the family as well.

Thomas's 14 year old niece Isabelle was coming over tonight to stay with them for a week as her parents were going away for their anniversary. Over the years Rachel had got really close to her so she was looking forward to her coming over, especially since she hadn't seen her in quite a while

Rachel was waiting in the playground for the kids and eventually Lexi came out but there was still no sign of the twins

"hey Lexi did you have a nice day" Rachel said

"Yeah it was really good, but it was sad saying goodbye to everyone"

"it'll be strange starting a new school in September but you'll still see all your friends over summer won't you love?"

"Yeah I guess, mum can Isabelle sleep in my room when she comes tonight?"

"Well she is staying for a week Lexi, so maybe she can sleep in your room for a couple of nights but not all the time love"

After waiting another 5 minutes for the twins to come out Rachel finally decided she'd go and check what was keeping them

She went in and saw them both stood with the teacher

When their teacher saw Rachel stood there she opened the door and let her in

"Sorry to keep you mrs mason I just had to have a word with these two after class"

"What have they done? Nothing too serious I hope"

"Well they've been disruptive all afternoon and tried to start a water fight but I won't keep them any longer especially since it's the last day"

"I hope the two of you have said you're sorry"

"They have, I can't really be too angry I know it's just because it's the last day and everything"

Rachel took the twins outside and started walking towards Lexi

"Mum are we in trouble?" Oliver asked sounding scared as he never liked being in trouble with his mum

"well as much as I don't particularly like the thought of you being disruptive, I can't be too angry on the last day can I huh?"

It was boiling hot outside so they were all looking forward to getting home

"I think we'll have to sit outside and get some ice cream when we get in won't we and Thomas got the paddling pool out for you while you were all at school"

Rachel got them all in the car and then started to drive home

" Isabelle's sleeping tonight isn't she mum" Evie asked

"She's sleeping for 7 nights my love"

When they got home Rachel helped get the twins changed out of their school uniform and into their swimming stuff so they could go straight into the paddling pool

"Lexi will you come to Tesco with me love to get some stuff for tea, we'll leave Thomas and the twins out in the garden"

"Yeah I'll come"

The two of them walked back out to the car and got in

"Mum will It be really scary when I move up to secondary school?" Lexi asked her mum

"No love, it'll just be a bit strange at first but after a while it'll feel like you've been there for ever and like I said earlier, loads of your friends are moving up with you so it's not like you're going to be by yourself"

"What if I don't like it though"

"Of course you'll like it, there's new subjects you can try and you'll make loads of new friends"

"But mum what if I still don't like it"

Rachel smiled, her daughter really could be a worrier at times

"Well we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it, but for now mrs let's just concentrate on having a nice summer yeah? I don't know about you but I can't wait for a week away"

"Me neither mum, it'll be so fun"

After the two of them had been to tesco they went out in the garden and got the sun loungers out, Isabelle wasn't coming till later that night so they had a few hours to relax first

At about 6 the doorbell rang and Rachel went to answer

Thomas's sister Louise was there

"Hiya louise" Rachel said giving her a big hug as it had been ages since she'd last seen her

"Oh its so good to see you" Louise said smiling

"Where's Isabelle?"

"She's just in the car getting her stuff together, Rachel she wants to go to a party tonight, I know it's really unsociable and everything and if you say no then that's fine, I promised I'd ask you though because it's one of her closest friends"

"Of course that's fine if you're okay with it, she's not a prisoner"

A few moments later Isabelle appeared

Rachel couldn't help but feel shocked when she saw her, she'd obviously looked a load of weight since she'd last seen her and she looked quite unhealthily skinny

She tried her best to hide her shock however and pulled her in to a big hug

"Hi auntie Rachel"

"Hi love, I hear you're bailing us already tonight"

"Yeah sorry, I would skip the party if it was anyone else, it's just because it's my best friend"

"I'm only kidding Isabelle, it's absolutely fine you've got all week with us after all" Rachel said smiling "Why don't you go up with Lexi and unpack your things"

Lexi helped Isabelle carry her stuff upstairs and started chatting away to her

Once Isabelle was definitely out of ear shot Rachel turned to Louise

"she's lost a lot of weight" Rachel said

"Oh you know what teenage girls are like, it's just a phase" Louise said dismissively but Rachel could sense the tension in her voice

She decided not to push it but thought maybe at some point she could have a little chat with Isabelle about it, once she was feeling a bit more relaxed

After Rachel said goodbye to Louise she went upstairs to help Isabelle unpack

"So how's everything with you? Is school going okay huh?"

"Yeah not too bad, I'm glad to have finished though"

"I bet you are, just think 6 weeks off now"

"I know it'll be so good"

"Are you looking forward to the party tonight?"

"I'm so excited for it, it'll be really fun"

Rachel chatted to her for a bit longer but then decided to leave her in peace

"I'll leave you to finish unpacking, tea will be ready in about half an hour love"

"Oh I'm not that hungry"

"Well you're going to have to eat something before the party or else you'll be starving"

"Well I'll only have a little bit"

"Okay" Rachel said though she was beginning to get a bit concerned about Isabelle already, it was becoming clear that there was something not quite right about her eating at the moment

As soon as Rachel left Isabelle began to panic, she knew that while she was with Rachel and Thomas at least one of them would be home all the time as there was the twins to look after

Over the last few months Isabelle had become more and more obsessive about her weight, it had started off as just a daft diet but now it was much more than that and it felt like it was taking over her life. At home with her mum she felt more in control of her dieting, her mum had to get up early for work which meant she would skip breakfast, at school she'd often throw her lunch in the bin and before eating her tea she'd figure out exactly how many calories were in what she was eating and sometimes she'd even make herself sick

All this wasn't making her happy of course, everyone had noticed how much weight she'd lost, at first they'd tell her how great she looked but now they were seriously worried about her and could see how skinny she'd gotten but Isabelle felt like she'd lost control completely, every day she'd get on the scales praying she'd see that she'd lost another pound and if she hadn't that would make her more determined to eat as little as possible that day

An hour later Isabelle came down for tea

She saw that Rachel had made carbonara and instantly began to panic, wondering just how many calories was in her portion

She sat down and began to twist the spaghetti round her fork; it was one of the tricks she'd learnt. A lot of it was about always making it look like you had something on your fork, giving the impression you were eating even though you weren't

"What time do you want to go out tonight love?" Rachel asked while tucking into her carbonara

"Erm maybe about 8ish"

"Okay well if you give me the address I'll pick you up at about 12ish that should be late enough shouldn't it?" Rachel asked, though she wouldn't be too keen at all on Isabelle staying out any later after all she was only 14

"Yep that'll be fine"

"And there's not going to be any alcohol is there?"

"Well some people will take some but I won't drink, mum doesn't let me"

"Your mum's right not to let you, there's plenty of time for all that in a couple of years"

"Mum can me and Oliver watch a movie?" Evie asked

"I don't know love it's a bit late"

"Please it's the first night of the summer holidays"

"Okay but it's straight to bed after and no arguments okay" Rachel said "Isabelle is the carbonara okay, you've barely touched it"

Rachel had been keeping an eye on Isabelle as she was eating and saw how much she was playing around with her food but barely putting any in her mouth, it was all starting to make her really worried but she didn't know if it was her place to say anything

"yeah it's so nice I'm just stuffed, I had a huge lunch"

"Well just eat what you want to love"

Isabelle ate a tiny bit more but left most of it

She went upstairs to her room to start getting ready, but she felt tears prickling in her eyes, this was happening a lot at the moment, ever since she'd stopped eating she'd been tearful and snappy all the time, she knew it was because of how tired and hungry she was, she also seemed to have a headache all the time

It took her about an hour and a half to get ready and then she came downstairs

She was wearing a short white skirt and a black crop top, when Rachel saw her she realised just how skinny she'd really gotten, her hip bones were really prominent and her ribs were visible

A part of Rachel wanted to confront her about it right now but she knew it wouldn't be the right time just before she was about to go to a party so instead forced a smile despite how concerned she was

"You look great" Rachel said "The twins are watching a movie with Thomas but Lexi wants to come with me to drop you off is that okay?"

"Yeah that's fine"

A few moments later Lexi came downstairs, even she could see how skinny Isabelle was and stared at her stomach but didn't want to say anything in case she thought she was being rude

"Come on then girls let's go"

Rachel drove Isabelle round to the house and parked up outside

"Have a good night Isabelle, remember to be sensible and no drinking okay?"

"I won't I promise"

Once they stared driving back Lexi turned to face her mum

"Mum how come Isabelle's so skinny?"

"I don't know love"

"Do you think she's on a diet?"

"Maybe Lexi" Rachel said, though Rachel could tell this was a lot more than just a diet

"You diet though and you don't look like that"

"Well sometimes people take diets a bit too seriously, don't you say anything to her though Lexi, I'll have a private chat with her at some point about it"

Although Rachel wasn't Isabelle's Mum she still felt really worried about her and wanted to offer her some type of support

They got back and after the twins had watched the film Rachel and Thomas put them to bed

Lexi was feeling quite tired too so wasn't that late going to bed

Once everyone was asleep Rachel and Thomas sat down for a coffee

"Thomas can I ask you something?"

"Of course"

"Have you noticed how much weight Isabelle's lost?"

Thomas sighed and looked a bit grave

"Of course I've noticed, I wanted to say something but I didn't think it was my place"

"Do you think it could be anorexia?"

"I don't know Rachel, people can be extremely underweight but still not be anorexic, it's about what's going on in the mind"

"I know but she just looks so unhealthy"

"you're right she does and when I saw her I was shocked, but if it is anorexia sufferers are normally so defensive about it and so good at lying it's so hard to get them to open up"

"It's dangerous though"

"I know, I've seen some horrific cases of young girls basically starving themselves to death, it's such a vicious cycle"

"I'm going to try talking about it to her tomorrow"

Thomas was just about to reply when Oliver came in crying

"Hey sweetheart what's the matter?" Rachel asked gesturing for him to come and sit on her knee

Oliver ran into his Mum's arms and started to cry into her

"please don't tell anyone but I'm really frightened"

"What are you frightened of huh?"

"That the white witch is going to get me" Oliver sobbed

Rachel sighed, the twins had watched the lion the witch and the wardrobe and obviously Oliver had been scared by it, he often was quite sensitive to films and things

"Oh dear, you just have a cuddle and relax, its all okay there's now white witches around here I promise" Rachel soothed

A few minutes later Oliver seemed to have calmed down a bit so Rachel took him upstairs

"Right mister are you okay to go to bed now"

"Yeah"

Oliver got In and Rachel crouched down next to his bed

"You know films aren't real darling they're just acting"

"I know sorry for being scared"

"Hey don't be sorry, everyone gets scared sometimes even me"

"Not boys though"

"Now that's a load of rubbish, Daddy gets scared sometimes"

"Really?"

"Yes really, but you know you're nice and safe in your bedroom don't you?"

"Yeah, thanks mum"

"That's alright try and get some sleep now yeah?"

"Yeah"

Rachel kissed him goodnight before going back downstairs

At about 11:50 Rachel decided to drive round to get Isabelle

As soon as she got there a girl ran up to her

"Are you Isabelle's auntie, I thought I saw you drop her off"

"Yes I am, has something happened?"

"I really don't want to get her into trouble, but she's really drunk and she keeps crying and we're all really worried about her"

Rachel sighed and ran inside with the girl through a crowd of teenagers

She found Isabelle slumped in a corner mascara running down her face

"Oh god, come on you let's get you home"

"I don't know how she got so bad, she didn't drink much"

Rachel guessed the reason she'd ended up like this was because she hadn't eaten so it had all gone to her head

"Thanks so much for looking after her girls, have you all got lifts home?"

"We're going to get a taxi"

"I'll give you a lift, save you wasting your money"

"Are you sure? Thanks so much"

"It's no trouble"

Rachel had to help Isabelle to the car and got her strapped in

She dropped all the girls off before turning her attention to her niece

"I take it the no alcohol rule wasn't stuck to then" Rachel sighed

Isabelle just kept sobbing and couldn't even speak

"Oh love come on dry those tears"

Isabelle didn't stop crying all the way back

Once they got home Rachel helped her inside and up to her room

"Let's get the makeup off"

Rachel gently cleansed her face and helped her into pyjamas

"Sweetheart what's the matter, what's got you so upset"

"I hate my life" Isabelle slurred "It's all just shit"

Rachel sighed and pulled her into her chest

"Come on you don't really mean that do you huh?"

"Yeah I do" Isabelle sobbed "Rach am I in trouble?"

"Not with me no, I'm really worried though. But I'm sure your mum will have something to say"

"Don't tell her she'll go mad"

"We'll talk in the morning my love, come on into bed, you just need to sleep this off"

Eventually Rachel managed to get Isabelle off to sleep but she left her room feeling really concerned about her

Please review xxxxx


End file.
